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Department of Africana Studies Statement of Support: Black Lives Matter!

The Department of Africana Studies at California State University, Northridge, stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and demand that action be taken, so our community and city can work to dismantle the structures of racism that have threatened Black lives and wellbeing since this nation was first established. We condemn police brutality and the insidious murders of Black men and women. There are many police who operate as the enforcement wing of the system of white supremacy, a system that we must work to dismantle every day. We condemn racism and oppression in all its manifestations, including homophobia and transphobia. The terrorism of white supremacy and white privilege continues to compromise the health and safety of Black Americans and African people across the globe. The systematic assault on Black lives in America and in the world is an injustice that will not be tolerated and must be rooted out from the psyche and fabric of America.

Read the full statement from the CSUN Department of Africana Studies.

Statement from the CSUN Department of Anthropology

The faculty, staff, and counselors of the Department of Anthropology at CSUN stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and all Black members of our CSUN family who demand justice, equality, and an end to police brutality. We mourn the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade, and countless other Black members of our society who have died and continue to die at the hands of the criminal justice system. We condemn this inhumane oppression, and support all efforts to transform the criminal justice system, to rid our society of systemic racism, and to restore dignity and respect for all human beings.

Read the full statement from the Department of Anthropology

The Department of Criminology and Justice Studies at California State University—Northridge joins with the many voices from academia and elsewhere in an unequivocal denouncement of systemic injustice on the basis of race or other dimensions of inequities in social and economic power.  The killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25 is yet another example of the myriad ways in which institutionalized inequities in the criminal justice system translate too often into acts of devastating violence impacting men, women, Queer, and transgendered persons of color.  While the focus has recently been on a Black man—George Floyd—the names of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Sandra Bland, and many other women, Queer, and transgendered people of color need to be remembered as well.  We acknowledge the long history of institutionalized racism that has been enacted in targeted violence perpetrated by some members of law enforcement disproportionately against persons of color, all too often with deadly consequences.  We also denounce the persistent and institutionalized neglect in holding officers accountable for that violence.  Criminology and Justice Studies stands with those who seek justice in the names of those like George Floyd who are victims of institutionalized violence and who seek changes that will better ensure that all received equal protection under and treatment by the law.

Read the full statement from the Criminology and Justice Studies Department.

Once again we find ourselves in an extraordinary moment in which many people are compelled to act in response to a long legacy of systemic and institutionalized oppression in our country. The recent police killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, Tony McDade, and many others who are disproportionately from Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, is a symptom of the systemic racism that exists in the United States and globally. These murders are one part of a larger pattern of anti-Blackness, institutional racism, and white supremacy—patterns that we, as sociologists, are trained to critically examine and interrogate. Sociologists are committed to understanding our social world which necessitates using an intersectional lens to illuminate how race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, ability status, and citizenship status influence our lives. This includes shedding light on injustice and speaking out about violence. To that end, we stand in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, and other racialized groups who have been subject to continued state and state-sanctioned violence. We are committed to addressing issues of racial justice through education and will continue to critically engage in these conversations through listening, learning, reflecting, and teaching. We remain in solidarity with the local and global uprisings and with all communities who have resisted, protested, and taken actions to disrupt systemic oppression.

Read the full statement from the Sociology Department.

The Department of Political Science at California State University, Northridge stands against Anti-Blackness, racism, and violence perpetrated against Black communities. George Floyd was one of several unarmed Black men and women senselessly murdered by police and white vigilantes in recent months.  Ahmaud Arbery was killed by two armed white men while jogging in a South Georgia neighborhood. Breonna Taylor, an EMT, was killed by police in her apartment in Louisville. Tony McDade was killed by police in Tallahassee. In June, after weeks of protests, Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot by police in Atlanta in the parking lot of a Wendy’s. We pause to remember these individuals because their lives mattered.  Although the disturbing reality is that there are numerous others, we want to honor the memories of all victims of racial violence, by saying the names of the following Black men, women, and children whose lives have also been taken:   Malice Green, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Atatiana  Jefferson, Alton Sterling, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, and Trayvon Martin. As a department we condemn the racism, bigotry, callous disregard for human life, and state-sanctioned violence that led to their deaths. We recognize that our Black students, faculty, and staff live with the constant fear that their names could be added to this list, and we affirm that their lives are precious and must be protected. The violence must stop!

Read the full statement and Recommended Readings from the Department of Political Science.