06/01/2020
Words all left out of Clayton Rose’s Friday e-mail condemning police violence: “murder”, “black”, and “racist”. This is completely unacceptable, given that at least four black people have been murdered by racist police in only the last few days (George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade).
The problem is not “a small handful” of cops who “stain the work of their colleagues”, as Rose claims. The problem is that our police system is racist and anti-black to its core. These four murders are not the beginning, nor the end of the system that has criminalized black people since its inception and to this day continually tries to destroy black communities through violence, abuse and incarceration.
By failing to make this acknowledgement, Rose has failed to express meaningful solidarity with the victims, their families, and the black members of our Bowdoin community. It’s simple: without acknowledging the reality of the problem, we can never hope to solve it. President Rose uses intentionally ambiguous language such as “identity-based hate” to deny institutional anti-blackness, and “dying in police custody” to get around admitting to the continual violence and murder the police inflict on black people in America. These vague words will never fix anything, and they only serve to entrench the very problems just addressed.
Instead, take action to support those fighting this violent system, and to those who are made victims of its violence: here is a list of grassroots funds and organizations you should donate to:
The Bail Project, a national organization bailing out protestors in multiple cities including Los Angeles, Louisville, and New York City
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project
Reclaim the Block, a Minnesota organization lobbying to defund police and re-route funds to housing, health, violence prevention, and other important issues
https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en La Lucha, a Minneapolis worker's center that is taking donations of food and money to support organizers
https://ctul.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1
North Star Health Collective, a mutual aid group of organizers and medics providing medical care to protestors
https://www.northstarhealthcollective.org/donate
Louisville Community Bail Fund, bail fund funneled to protestors in Louisville, Kentucky
https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund/
Gofundme to raise money for George Floyd’s family and funeral expenses
https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet
Philly Bail Fund, which is arranging cash bails for arrested protestors in Philadelphia.
https://www.phillybailfund.org/
Non-black people must continually educate themselves by reading and watching the work of black writers, artists, filmmakers and theorists. Ignorance is a choice, and if we do not listen then we cannot help. Non-black people must have difficult confrontations with themselves, their friends, and family members about their own anti-blackness, and the roles we all play in perpetuating this system. We cannot prioritize white comfort over black lives.
In Solidarity,
Bowdoin Labor Alliance
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