Loading

Social Justice Edition 2020 ODI Matters

The above image speaks to the literal and psychological ways in which folx are struggling to breathe right now. This edition of the newsletter focuses on social justice, the current protests, and the ongoing pandemic. Included are a statement from Centre’s chief diversity officer, Andrea Abrams, and a message from Centre’s chaplain, Rick Axtell. We have also provided resources to guide socially just action as well as self-care and healing.

Statement from Andrea Abrams, Associate Vice President for Diversity Affairs

Oh, make you wanna holler, The way they do my life, Make me wanna holler, The way they do my life.

This morning, the words of Marvin Gaye reverberate on a seemingly endless loop in my mind.

I am enraged over the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.

I am heartbroken for the black and brown folk, the poor, for those in nursing homes, for those in prisons, for those without homes, and for all those who comprise the 100,000 that have perished in the pandemic.

I am sick with worry for the essential workers who clean our hospitals; who deliver our goods; who work in our grocery stores, our meat processing plants, and in our post offices; for those who languish in migrant detention centers, for those who face eviction, and for those who are already hungry.

I am afraid for the young people, especially our students, in Minneapolis, Louisville, Boston, Atlanta, New York, and elsewhere, who stand on the front lines, resisting injustice.

“No justice, no peace!” is the chant from this week’s protests and rebellions. I reject the word riot. A riot is a violent disturbance of the peace. How can there be peace when people die, not simply from unlucky exposure to a “novel” virus, but from the pathogen’s intersection with institutionalized poverty, racism, and ageism? How can there be peace when we are traumatized by images of extrajudicial killing on the evening news? How can there be peace when some who protest are “very good people” while others are “THUGS”?

No peace without social justice. The purpose of social justice is to reconstruct society in accordance with principles of equity and inclusion. Centre College has defined inclusion as diversity activated. It requires identifying barriers and exclusions in structures, policies, practices, decisions, and norms and addressing them in a way that allows diverse individuals to see themselves reflected in the community. The events of this week underscore the ways in which this definition is incomplete. The issue at hand is not for the marginalized and oppressed to see themselves but for those with power to see the full humanity of all others and to leverage their privilege in the service of equity and justice for all.

Who are those with power and privilege? Those who vote. Use the power of the ballot to hold accountable those elected officials who do not serve the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable. Elect local, state, and national politicians who, in word and deed, are anti-poverty, anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-heteronormative, anti-nativist, anti-ableist, anti-religious discrimination, and anti-ageist.

Those who are counted have power. Complete the 2020 Census so that no one can be erased from the narrative of who matters. The Census is a pivotal mechanism to more equitably channel billions of dollars into our communities for health care, prison reform, fair housing, environmental sustainability, and education.

Education is power and privilege. While my heart is full of despair, it is also replete with hope. I hope because I have faith in Centre’s students, staff, and faculty to use math and science to guide our response to the pandemic; sociology and anthropology to name the oppressors and the structures of inequality; history and political science to strategize effective modes of resistance; and the arts and humanities to give expression to our collective grief and anger as well as our indefatigable resilience.

We have the power to be the change that we want to see in the world.

None of us are free, if one of us is chained. Makes me wanna holler.

Message from Rick Axtell, H. W. Stodghill, Jr. and Adele H. Stodghill Professor of Religion • College Chaplain

2020 Vision

As we’ve had news of one jarring incident after another, from Breonna Taylor to Ahmaud Arbery to George Floyd, the sense of national crisis has heightened and the level of pain has deepened.

Over the past few years, I have often repeated that things are not getting worse; rather, they are being revealed. The pandemic itself has revealed enormous gaps in health care delivery and economic well-being. It has spotlighted the systemic vulnerabilities of Americans who live in poverty, those without housing, nursing home residents, detained immigrants and asylum seekers, those who are incarcerated, and black and brown Americans who have suffered disproportionately from the tragedy of a virus that has taken over 100,000 lives in the U.S. And the past few months have also highlighted the everyday labor that, although essential to all, remains undercompensated and underappreciated.

And so, with eyes open and hearts broken, we grieve.

Of course, these ongoing realities are revelations only to those whose comfort, privilege, and power have functioned to render them invisible. Now, this recent succession of brutal murders at the hands of the police brings to mind the quote from South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Rev. Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said something almost identical: “We must always take sides: Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” And from the stage of the Norton Center, Wiesel uttered this unforgettable phrase: “The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.”

In that spirit of love, I offer the following resources for those of us who are white in the work that we must do in response to the structural racism from which we benefit. The website www.wherechangestarted.org offers these succinct stages in the work of becoming antiracist. Every major religious tradition calls us to such work – work that moves us away from blindness, indifference, or the illusion of neutrality. May they contribute to the creation of what Martin Luther King called “the beloved community.”

Finally, let us all, in solidarity, acknowledge the deep pain experienced by African Americans in our community who are suffering anew from the deadly virus of racism. May all of us at Centre, with open eyes and broken hearts, commit ourselves to the hard work of combatting this contagion in all that we do.

Rick Axtell

Religious Life Office

Social Justice Resources Suggested by Dr. Axtell

Articles to read:

Podcasts to subscribe to:

Organizations to follow on social media:

Find these resources and more at http://bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES.

Race and Social Justice Tools

Articles

Resources and Tools

Self-Care and Healing

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion

Our office remains open throughout the summer to continue supporting our students, staff, and faculty. Intercultural Suite will remain open as long as the Campus Center remains open.

  • Andrea Abrams, Associate Vice President for Diversity Affairs & Special Assistant to the President, andrea.abrams@centre.edu, 859-238-5267
  • Ashley Oliver, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, ashley.oliver@centre.edu, 859-238-6520
  • Jo Teut, Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion, jo.teut@centre.edu, 859-238-6220

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

ODI's Diversity Updates Webpage

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

from Arthur Ashe

Appreciate
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Report Abuse