PITT GRAD STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD AND STATE VIOLENCE
Dear Fellow Graduate Students,
We stand in solidarity, rage, and grief with people protesting the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Antwon Rose II and countless other Black victims of police brutality. We collectively denounce white supremacy and the enduring, state-sanctioned violence brought against Black communities in the United States. As union organizers, we are committed to dismantling structural racism and pursuing justice and a more equitable society, which can only be accomplished through collective action.
The University of Pittsburgh was founded on, trades in, and benefits from the same white supremacy that breeds police violence. Chancellor Gallagher’s recent letter continues a pattern of promises to address racial inequity, reminding us of similar platitudes in his response to the murder of Antwon Rose II in 2018 by a 5-year veteran of the Pitt Police. This letter, sent yesterday, indicates that the nearly complete strategic plan fails to address racial equity and justice. This is unacceptable.
The work of anti-racism, and specifically of combating anti-Blackness, is imperative and must be centered-- not just with academic resources, but material support for Black members of the Pitt and Pittsburgh communities. It is not just some departments that need to find ways of addressing anti-Blackness. These issues and their solutions do not exist in silos as Provost Cudd would have us believe.
We are committed to being a labor movement that devotes itself to the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Black students at Pitt face a variety of barriers, including but not limited to microaggressions, harassment, and violence produced from both individual and institutional racism. The Pitt Grad Union will continue to fight for fair labor practices and a safe, equitable workplace for Black graduate students.
“In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” - Angela Davis
In honest solidarity,
Pitt Grad Union
Dear Fellow Graduate Students,
We stand in solidarity, rage, and grief with people protesting the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Antwon Rose II and countless other Black victims of police brutality. We collectively denounce white supremacy and the enduring, state-sanctioned violence brought against Black communities in the United States. As union organizers, we are committed to dismantling structural racism and pursuing justice and a more equitable society, which can only be accomplished through collective action.
The University of Pittsburgh was founded on, trades in, and benefits from the same white supremacy that breeds police violence. Chancellor Gallagher’s recent letter continues a pattern of promises to address racial inequity, reminding us of similar platitudes in his response to the murder of Antwon Rose II in 2018 by a 5-year veteran of the Pitt Police. This letter, sent yesterday, indicates that the nearly complete strategic plan fails to address racial equity and justice. This is unacceptable.
The work of anti-racism, and specifically of combating anti-Blackness, is imperative and must be centered-- not just with academic resources, but material support for Black members of the Pitt and Pittsburgh communities. It is not just some departments that need to find ways of addressing anti-Blackness. These issues and their solutions do not exist in silos as Provost Cudd would have us believe.
We are committed to being a labor movement that devotes itself to the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Black students at Pitt face a variety of barriers, including but not limited to microaggressions, harassment, and violence produced from both individual and institutional racism. The Pitt Grad Union will continue to fight for fair labor practices and a safe, equitable workplace for Black graduate students.
“In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” - Angela Davis
In honest solidarity,
Pitt Grad Union