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Updates

Supporting Our Black Community Members: Black Lives Still Matter

4/12/2021

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To Our Middlebury Community,
 
Black lives still matter. We started our first message with these words and unfortunately, approximately a year later, we still are faced with the same issues that require the reiteration of the phrase.
The recent murder of yet another Black human, Daunte Wright, a twenty-year-old Black man, represents another piece of evidence supporting unfortunate truth of the fabric of the United States of America: pervasive systemic racism, and specifically anti-blackness, continues to exist and will persist until we as a society take action to dismantle the structures that contribute to it.
This is a heavy statement, but one that needs to be said, without apology or pause. When we as a community speak about being allies and practicing anti-racism, it’s equally important we address the fact that these issues will not go away overnight, especially without tangible action. It takes work and effort from all of us as a community to ensure tragic atrocities such as this can be prevented. When people demonstrate a refusal to take action to support marginalized people, they aid in the perpetuation of these systems.
As individuals in a small college community, it can sometimes feel difficult to find ways to be involved. We have compiled a list of things you can do to work against these systems right now:
  1. Racial Justice Resources: Educate yourselves and others on how racial justice and policing interact. Think of ways that this presents itself in our community and how we can promote racial justice here in the Middlebury community through this lens.
  2. Be Active in Our Campus Community: There are current campus initiatives working now to dismantle structures of racism and oppression (including but not limited to JusTalks, Cops Off Campus, Concerned Students of Middlebury, and more). Additionally there are numerous campus organizations supporting BIPOC and marginalized students. Reach out and find ways to get involved to support those in our community.
  3. CSM Instagram: We will be posting information on how people can financially support the family during this time as well as other ways to support Black community members.
  4. Meaningful Check-In: Check in and talk to the Black people with whom you have an established relationship with. This is a time for finding ways to support those around you, so consider taking the time to do so. 
Last May, our letter to President Patton was sent and a few short days later we received a response, one that marked a time of partnership with our administration as we collectively have worked towards a more anti-racist campus. Since then, we have worked diligently with our college administration and intercultural student organizations to create a Middlebury community that works to support all students regardless of background, and where the most marginalized of us can have a voice. We do not propose that this is perfect and all of the work is being done as quickly as we would like it to happen, but we are remaining committed to this because it is the progress our campus community has needed for decades. We will continue this work because that is precisely what the Concerned Students of Middlebury were created to do: support those in our community who face marginalization based solely on the premise of their identity. We hope to work beside each of you in this mission as well.
To the Wright family, although we know you likely will not see this, we will never know the grief that your family is feeling right now; however, we feel indescribable pain alongside you and want to work to dismantle the systems that allowed this to happen. It is the least we can do.
In solidarity,
Myles Maxie, CSM Co-President

with permission from
The CSM Executive Board


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    The views expressed in these updates are that of the overall CSM Board as an entity, not necessarily as individuals. Additionally, it is our position that these updates should be an official record of the statements of CSM as an organization as it has to do with our operations.

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  • About Us
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