Welcome to the Department of Sociology & Anthropology
In Support and Solidarity with Black Lives
The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.
-Ida B. Wells
In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.
-Angela Davis
Like many across the country and around the world, we are saddened and angered by the violent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor whose names have most recently been added to those of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Sandra Bland, while the list continues to grow as we write this statement. We know that the lynching of Black bodies is not only a current event, though. The brutalization of Black lives—the Black community—is a 400+ year history rooted in white supremacy and systemic racism. The physical, physiological, and emotional trauma experienced by generations of Black lives in the United States and across the globe is all too real. The truth is that anti-blackness and racist violence has resulted in countless lives lost—extinguished the breath of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and friends—as a result of police brutality and other violent acts.
Today, while we mourn the deaths and the injustices, the burden for change should not be placed on the shoulders of Black people. Because of this, the faculty and staff of our department—as educators, researchers, and members of the community—join to bear witness to the long-standing legacy of white supremacy and racism inflicted on each and every Black person in this country and around the world. A legacy that today remains embedded in our political, economic, health, and social institutions. We will continue to say their names as we dedicate our strength and efforts toward dismantling and eradicating white supremacy and racism. We stand with our Black colleagues, students, and friends as they continue to bear some of the heaviest burdens and losses of their lives. We will work to educate and challenge members of our community against anti-blackness while being actively and vocally anti-racist.
In Solidarity,
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology
The University of Texas at El Paso
