Student Organization Responses to AntiBlack Racism and Police Brutality

Throughout the month of May and June 2020 the world witnessed the horrible manifestations of systemic structural and institutionalized racism in the United States. George Floyd was the most recent addition to a list of people who have been murdered as a result of callous disregard from Black lives. Students at Tulane University were among those responding to this and other acts of violence against Black bodies in the United States and around the world. Here you will find the archiving of statements by Tulane student organizations. Starting with a shared statement from the Tulane Black Student Union and Students Organizing Against Racism.

In light of highly publicized incidents of racial violence that have surged during the Trump Administration: we, the students of Tulane Black Student Union (tBSU) and Students Organizing Against Racism (SOAR), fully condemn the gratuitous violence that has taken the lives of Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Modesto Reyes, George Floyd and countless other Black people. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, anti-Black racism continues to pose an extreme threat to Black lives. The collective anguish and rage experienced in the face of this reality has been expressed through protest throughout the country.

Our university motto, “Non sibi, sed suis,” calls the Tulane community to work “not for one’s self, but for one’s own.” We call upon members of our university community, now dispersed across the nation due to COVID-19, to stand in support of the protestors in their own respective communities to challenge anti-Black racism nationally. Moreover, we must confront how our university perpetuates this racism against Black students, faculty, and staff, and the New Orleans community.
 
It has been proven that police fail to protect communities, and this demonstrates a need for Tulane to revolutionize our approach to student safety. Incidents involving Tulane University Police Department (TUPD) officers are poorly documented, and lack transparency. Officers from both TUPD and the New Orleans Police Department are armed and can patrol our campus, leaving Black people, students or otherwise, potentially vulnerable to harm. As universities across the nation are re-evaluating and severing ties to their local police departments, it is paramount that our university reevaluates its relationship with TUPD to ensure that there are substantial transparency and accountability measures implemented to ensure the safety of Black students.

This is especially pressing due to COVID-19. Under social distancing guidelines, it is imperative that our university does not depend on increased policing to enforce social distancing, as this poses a threat to members of our organizations and our greater community. It is critical that any effort from Tulane to protect the safety of Black students confronts the intersectional oppression our community encounters. Members of our community must be protected from misogynoir, homophobia and transphobia throughout campus. We cannot wait until a fatal incident occurs in our own community - our administration must undertake substantial policy measures to ensure our safety.
 
We stand with Atlanta, and the family of Ahmaud Arbery. We stand with Miami, and the family of Tony McDade. We stand with Louisville, and the family of Breonna Taylor. We stand with New Orleans, and the family of Modesto Reyes. We stand with Minneapolis, and the family of George Floyd. Our organizations cannot witness state-sanctioned violence against protestors demanding revolutionary change and remain silent. We recognize protests as part of a greater struggle for racial justice in the United States. This statement is written in solidarity with protestors nationwide who demand justice from our legal system wherever they may be, and calls upon our university and community partners to leverage any resources at their disposal in order to do the same.
 
In Solidarity and Power,
 
Tulane Black Student Union and Students Organizing Against Racism
This statement is written with the support of: TUGente, Tulane University’s Filipino Student Association, Asian American Student Union, Tulane University Vietnamese Association, Indian Association of Tulane University, POCappella, Muslim Student Association, Tulane University Middle Eastern Union, and the USG Director of DIEC

Anti-Racist Organizations in New Orleans:

National Resources:

 

(more statements to come)