At UMRFC, we value community, heart, and hard work, none of which are determined by the color of one’s skin. The United States has a deep and dark history of racial injustice. We have a moral obligation to confront this history and its manifestations in the present. We are proud of our alumni and players across the nation who are taking a stand against injustice, and we add our voices to theirs. To be the leaders and the best, we must oppose racism wherever we see it–in the actions of bigoted individuals and in the wider systems of structural violence that subjugate Black Americans and minority groups. To that end, we stand beside the members of our local and national Black American communities, who are fighting for their rights to survive and thrive in this country.
This team is not perfect, but we are committed to actively working with each other, alumni, and the university to grow and improve.
For information on how to become educated or involved, please see the below resources:
- Educational Resources (articles, books, podcasts):
- George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery deaths: Racism causes life-threatening conditions for black men every day. https://theconversation.com/george-floyd-and-ahmaud-arbery-deaths-racism-causes-life-threatening-conditions-for-black-men-every-day-120541
- 1619 (New York Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html
- About Race https://www.showaboutrace.com/
- Code Switch (NPR) https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/
- Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast https://www.raceforward.org/media/podcast/momentum-race-forward-podcast
- Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights) https://civilrights.org/podforthecause/
- “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/americas-racial-contract-showing/611389/
- The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html
- ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh http://convention.myacpa.org/houston2018/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf
- “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/ahmaud-arbery/611539/
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander https://newjimcrow.com/
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/3924/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings-by-maya-angelou/
- Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins https://books.google.com/books/about/Black_Feminist_Thought.html?id=cdtYsU3zR14C
- Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/198292/sister-outsider-by-audre-lorde/
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo https://www.sealpress.com/titles/ijeoma-oluo/so-you-want-to-talk-about-race/9781580056779/
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/117662/the-bluest-eye-by-toni-morrison/
- The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520272590/the-next-american-revolution
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/190696/the-warmth-of-other-suns-by-isabel-wilkerson/
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/their-eyes-were-watching-god/
- This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga https://www.amazon.com/This-Bridge-Called-Back-Fourth/dp/1438454384
- When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson https://books.google.com/books/about/When_Affirmative_Action_was_White.html?id=cfhneJPcD38C
- Ways to Get Involved
- Attend a protest, or organize one
- Attend a vigil for lost lives, or organize one
- Ask your mayor and city council for strong Citizen Review Boards, transparency, and accountability in budgets and legal processes
- Donate (Black Visions Collective, Reclaim the Block, Northstar Health Collective (medics), Campaign Zero, National Police Accountability Project, or more)
- Sign Petitions
- Other anti-racism resources
- Anti-Racism Project https://www.antiracismproject.org/resources
- Jenna Arnold’s resources (books and people to follow) https://www.jennaarnold.com/resources
- Rachel Ricketts’ anti-racism resources https://www.rachelricketts.com/antiracism-resources
- Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism https://blog.fracturedatlas.org/resources-for-white-people-to-learn-and-talk-about-race-and-racism-5b207fff4fc7
- Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/resources.html
- “Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie https://www.100yearhoodie.com/why
- Zinn Education Project’s teaching materials https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/page/2/cond%5B0%5D=levels_str:Grades+Pre-K-2&s=
