SCA persists in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and with protestors in New York, in the nation, and across the globe to demand racial justice, denounce police brutality, and insist that Black lives matter. We will continue to work to enact emancipation, the abolition of state-sanctioned white supremacy, and egalitarian futures.
In the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, as scholars, teachers, and staff, we are united by our commitment to understanding the processes by which communities demand justice. We have watched the COVID-19 pandemic ravage our communities and our city, and have noted along with so many others that the virus was a magnifier of all the economic, racial, and ethnic disparities that have been endemic in our nation for decades now. The killings of Breonna Taylor, of Ahmaud Arbery, of Tony McDade, and of George Floyd and many other Black people have brought those disparities into sharp and devastating relief. Gripped by a mixture of hope, anger and fear, we join in person and in spirit, the thousands upon thousands gathered to protest, to raise our voices, and to demand—in the face of sometimes violent and weaponized opposition—the rights of equal protection and equal access.
The Department of Social & Cultural Analysis is an interdisciplinary space of teaching and research. Our intellectual legacy draws on theoretical insights from social geography, feminism and queer studies, ethnic studies, critical race theory, labor studies, and cultural studies. We are an intellectual space that analyzes racism and challenges white supremacy from numerous approaches, from local New York City policing policies to global environmental racism.
SCA will remain a safe haven for students, faculty, scholars, staff and members of the NYC community. We know a large university like NYU can seem like a bureaucratic institution, so we at SCA have always made our space and events as welcoming and open as possible. We plan to continue to do so, by creating a safe and edifying online space for our students, faculty, staff, and our communities beyond NYU. This will include online events, resource links, and opportunities for students to meet one-on-one with faculty members to discuss our current times. Know that not only have we been here for you, we will remain here for you. Behind the scenes, we are working to improve your experience at SCA by requesting resources to hire more faculty of color, to put on special events, for financial support for students, and building liaisons with city organizations and activist groups.
During the past few weeks, many groups and organizations have crafted a response to the world’s response to the recent murders. The Department of Social & Cultural Analysis responds to these kinds of concerns in every class we teach and every event we host, and we believe our distinguished alumni and current students possess the passion and knowledge needed to illuminate injustices and to help foster the healing our world so desperately needs.
We are proud of and support the members of our community who are not just in the streets, but quite literally putting their lives and bodies on the line to denounce anti-Black violence and police impunity. In that spirit, SCA persists in solidarity with protestors both in New York, in the nation, and across the globe to demand racial justice, denounce police brutality, and insist that Black lives matter. We will continue to work to enact emancipation, the abolition of state-sanctioned white supremacy, and egalitarian futures.
In solidarity from the Staff and Faculty of SCA