Annabelle Goowin, PhD, LMFT Director of Equity and Inclusion
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” Ibram X. Kendi said, “There is justice. There is injustice. There is no neutrality. No sideline. No bleachers. No exits.” We are all in this together, and when we see injustice, our humanity requires that we speak up.
People in the NCU community and around the world are sitting with pain and trauma related to the death of George Floyd. Mr. Floyd was an unarmed Black man who was killed in Minneapolis by a White police officer who used unnecessary force.
The University of Minnesota made an announcement last week that they will limit ties to Minneapolis Police following the death of George Floyd. University President Joan Gabel shared that the community is “outraged and grief-stricken” and made this choice for the safety of their community.
While NCU is an online institution, and we don’t have the same considerations about who is physically policing our grounds and activities, we do believe that it is important to acknowledge and speak out against racism and racial violence. We know that racism is exhausting and takes a toll on everyone but especially on our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color students, faculty, and staff. As an institution, we want to acknowledge this pain, respond with love, and commit to being part of the healing.
For those of you who are White and looking for ways to promote racial justice, you may find this article helpful. I really value this one as well. For those of you who are feeling overwhelmed by the news, you may find these strategies useful:
Additionally, these are a couple of books that I’ve read that help me to better understand racial injustice:
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism