听着

与他人交谈.

听起来很简单. It doesn’t always happen in these divisive times. 而是分享思想, 的想法, information and experiences is a time-honored path to understanding and empathy.

Important and timely conversations happen across ladbrokes立博中文版’s campus all the time. We thought we’d focus on one in particular that was initiated as racial justice became one of the biggest news stories in the United States, competing with the COVID-19 pandemic for space in daily newspapers and newscasts.

As they shared their experiences and reactions with one another, Jakari格里菲斯教授(管理学), Laura K. 总值 (computer science and mathematics) and Tina Mullone (dance) discovered they are not far apart in their values and beliefs. Each has expressed gratitude for the conversations they’ve shared together.
We asked them for some thoughts on this all-important subject, thoughts that reflect what they’ve been talking about during the year.

Dr. Jakari格里菲斯

When I was about 22, I was stopped on I-95 on my way home from college by an unmarked police cruiser. 在短短几分钟内, 我被从车里拖了出来, 搜索, and had the contents of my suitcases emptied onto the shoulder of the highway. The officers’ explanation: I passed a car using the right lane. 这是一次耻辱的经历.

The plain truth is many people of color experience these kinds of injustices all the time, 但他们不愿分享. 此外, these kinds of encounters are not easy to forgive or set aside, as they’re often accompanied by feelings of mistreatment. 

The important work at BSU is to continue giving voice to these experiences as part of our difficult process of healing. 我们必须允许学生, 教师 and 工作人员 to share their frustrations and for our campus community to see those frustrations as legitimate. We must be humble enough to embrace the guilt that surfaces when we discover our actions might have resulted in some harm. We must also take responsibility for our own learning to avoid thinking that’s mired in a dark past. We must commit ourselves to the highest standards of human decency, care and compassion. As a member of the BSU family, this is what is required of you.

Dr. Laura K. 总值

In elementary school, we sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at assemblies. The Black national anthem helped me form a preliminary understanding of the unequal lives and histories of Black and white kids.

在BSU, I started taking an intentional look at racism in society, 教育, 我的教室和我自己. The worldwide uprisings of 2020 and the Letter of Demands Affirming Black Lives at ladbrokes立博中文版 (issued in June by a group of 10 Class of 2020 graduates) sparked me to ask questions about racism in policing, 卫生保健, 出国留学, campus housing and my immediate environment at work.

I turned to friends, colleagues, students and the chief of campus police. 我利用机会去倾听. 在这场大流行中，我们比以往任何时候都更需要, I appreciate the power of human communication, 连接和解析.

I continue to learn about the utterly different lived experiences in America, particularly those of Black and white individuals. 白人会说，“我很震惊!” about what’s going on, Black people say, “I am not surprised.白人说, “这从来没有发生在我身上,黑人说, “这种事发生在我身上, 我的朋友和家人经常.”

让我们继续说. 让我们做出改变. If I can live up to the words of that song I sang as a child, “让我们继续前进，直到胜利。,” I know I will be busy for the rest of my lifetime.

Tina Mullone教授

We are at a breaking point once 再一次。 in this country concerning racial injustice, and we will need legislation that will protect Black and Brown young people for generations to come. Although I have hope change will eventually happen, the cases of Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake test my faith.

I can only imagine what they were thinking in the moments leading to their demise. I, too, was recently pulled over by cops for “running” a stop sign. 作为一个女人, 两个男警察向我走来, a series of questions ran through my mind: Do I choose to keep my windows up out of fear? Do I respond in anger because I know I didn’t run the sign? I then remember to breathe, respond politely and pretend to look calm. 因为那一刻我在想, 布雷欧娜·泰勒到底怎么了, 雅各布·布莱克和其他很多人都发生在我身上?’

呼吁不公正是必要的. BSU社区, 执法人员, 和地方, state and federal governments must work together to find a way to end these senseless deaths. There is a saying that a man gets tired of having someone’s foot on his neck. And now we are tired of being killed with a knee (foot) on our neck ... 再一次。.

What I have discovered is that there are people who are willing to and feel comfortable sharing their experiences. There is an underlying energy and zest in the current protests that are seeking permanent change for the better. 这让我充满希望.