History Department Statement on Solidarity and Anti-Racism

The History Department supports protestors demanding justice and condemning the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black victims of police violence. We are committed to joining with students, staff, and faculty to advance the work of confronting racism at Colorado College and in our community.

As historians, we have the responsibility to pursue this struggle via the intellectual practices we undertake; and to expose the injustices of the past in order to address and dismantle the deep rooted mechanisms by which they shape our present. We thus seek to understand the past not as an abstract intellectual exercise, but to confront its legacy and inform the actions we take to make our society more equitable and just. Please see the American Historical Association’s Statement on the History of Racist Violence in the United States for more.

Finally, we urge you to support and contribute to local and national organizations on the frontline of the anti-racist struggle. These include: The Chinook Center, Relevant Word, Black Lives Matter, the ACLU, Campaign Zero, the National Police Accountability Project, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the NAACP.