Call to Action for Racial Justice
June 2020
An Explicit and Direct Call for Action
To our Black American friends, family, colleagues, and community members, we recognize your pain and anguish over the injustices people of color face each and every day in our country. The color of one’s skin should not determine how one is treated.
In America, we have witnessed acts of injustice - George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Christian Cooper, and countless others - and as witnesses, we have a moral obligation to speak up, speak out, and act. We each, every one of us, must do better and be a part of the solution. Systemic racism has been woven into the very fabric of our everyday lives and the society in which we live.
We have vowed to notremain silent.
We join in unity with the millions of Black Americans and allies engaging directly in the fight for social justice. We see you. We hear you. We love you. We stand beside you. We commit to act, each and every day, for racial justice and equity.
Request for Action: US PREP continues our explicit commitment and actions to disrupt the inequities facing our nation’s historically underserved students; most especially our Black, Latinx, Native American, and/or economically disadvantaged students. We urgently request that leaders take the following actions against inequities and injustice:
- Action 1: Begin with yourself. This includes each of us individually and our teams and organizations. Reference this list for specific actions you can take.
- Action 2: Better learn to fully understand the events that have taken place recently and the perspectives of all Black Americans.
- Action 3: Take a stand against inequity (do not remain silent), which differs in scope based on positionality. Remember, the scope and responsibility increase with one’s positionality. This includes bearing witness, raising awareness, speaking up and speaking out, and having crucial conversations with those around us about race. Seek resources outside of mainstream media. This document is a working document for scaffolding anti-racism resources.
- Action 4: Change the system from the inside-out by taking action for equity. The decisions and actions that have oppressed our nation’s most marginalized people come from systemic injustices that are perpetuated by individuals. Hold your elected representatives at all levels accountable for protecting all people, especially those that are historically underserved. We recommend resources from Courageous Conversations by Glenn Singleton and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture “Talking About Race” web portal.
- Action 5: Continue the conversations and actions, repeatedly, in our workplaces and society to promote equity. This includes how we operate internally and in the actions we take externally to stop injustices. Organizations like EquityXDesign and Teaching Tolerance stand ready with tools, approaches, and resources to support entire organizations and individual educators take action on equity.
Most importantly, do not remain silent. Racism will not go away without intentional action from each and every one of us. We must stand and take initiative, every one of us.
