School of Communication Statement in Support of our Black Community Members
Dear School of Communication Community:
The San Diego State University School of Communication faculty support recent outcries against racism and oppression, particularly at the hands of uniformed police forces. Structural racism and oppression constitute a devastating public health crisis in our community and beyond. As communication scholars and teachers committed to respectful interaction, we condemn racist and oppressive actions against Black people and other people of color. The names and lives of the fallen are too many to adequately honor in this statement, but we note recent lives tragically taken through anti-Black racism: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade.
The SDSU School of Communication conducts all classes, research, and community engagement based on the following four Core Values:
- Advance Knowledge
- Promote Fairness, Respect & Justice
- Foster Relationships
- Enhance the Public Good
These values compel us to support our Black colleagues, students, and community members and directly denounce ongoing, systemic anti-Black racism. We are open to how we can work together to eliminate demeaning and dehumanizing treatments of all persons. We are committed to translating these values to behaviors promoting positive social change in our personal and professional lives. In classroom and educational environments, we will be proactive and transparent in our attempts to promote trusting relationships and eliminate all forms of harmful bias - actions constraining innovative learning environments and sustained quality of living anchored in inclusion and equity.
We also house the Institute for Dialogue and Social Justice, which seeks to develop a culture defined by redressing direct and indirect forms of social and economic injustice and promoting alternative vocabularies, practices, and policies that enhance the potential for all people to live healthy, safe, full, viable, and meaningful lives. For more information about the Institute, visit the website: Institute for Dialogue and Social Justice
The School of Communication joins the other schools and programs in the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts in articulating this statement on institutional racism: PSFA Statement on Institutional Racism
The extent of the outcry against ongoing racial injustices is further demonstrated by statements recently published by professional organizations of the communication discipline:
- Western States Communication Association: https://www.westcomm.org/news/511290/WSCA-Statement-in-Opposition-to-Racist-Violence.htm
- National Communication Association: https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/OfficerLettertoMembersinSolidarityandSympathy.pdf
- International Communication Association: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.icahdq.org/resource/resmgr/files/ICA_BLM.pdf
Signed,
Dr. Heather Canary and the Faculty of the SDSU School of Communication
