Dear Clarkson graduate students,
Appalling events in the past few weeks have exposed racial bias rooted in multiple levels of our society, calling for a nationwide demand for basic equitable human rights. We stand in solidarity with the fight against systemic racism and the historic oppression of the African-American community in the United States.
The very name of communities based on skin color- “White Community” and “Black Community”, undermining every other human factor, shouts out large about a deep-rooted discriminative perception in our society. We are born with no knowledge of discrimination. It is ingrained into our perception by our society, by us. The journey from ‘they’ to ‘we’ would need every individual in the society to educate, reflect, practice, and preach on the failures of being human and collectively move forward towards a fair and just society. Through our participation, we can demonstrate support, love, and affirmation to our African-American students, families, and educators. We invite you to join us in the cause and encourage everyone to work in formal and informal ways to take actions that challenge the very root of racism and oppression in the US.
As graduate students, we are working towards a racial justice-centered society in the future. We expect to be in an environment where- skin color does not matter, origin does not matter, race does not matter. Unfortunately, in reality, every other discriminative factor matters not just in the US but in the whole world. It is up to each and every one of us to uphold the sanctity of being human. We also encourage individuals in every department to collectively foster dialogue surrounding how individual disciplines can contribute to the nation’s search for racial justice.
It is deeply troubling to think that in our civilized society in the 21st Century, it takes a loss of life to start a conversation about the reality of racial injustice! The Community Forum held on June 4th by Clarkson was a humbling, upsetting, and revealing experience for us (CUGSA). We listened to the student speakers, alumni of the African-American community, and felt the pain in their voices. We realize that there are so many issues in the day to day campus life of some students, who are specifically objectified as “People of Color”. CUGSA represents all Graduate Students and as a student organization, we have the responsibility to advocate the basic rights of every graduate student. Race, color, origin does not cross our mind towards our service to the graduate community and empowering education. Acknowledging racism and calling it out is a great step, but we understand that it is not enough. We need to act towards it. We encourage community members to reach out to us anytime for any support or issues of racial discrimination. We would like to emphasize again- that it is our responsibility to advocate for you and your life on-campus. We will contribute to the change that we all want to live. Our colleagues from GSA-HS have led the way and compiled a list of resources and we encourage you to seek out ways to become involved in this important work of intervening and standing for justice. You can find our recommended resources here.
Thank you,