Dear Friends,
I am delaying the June Expresso, because, in this moment, we all must grieve and speak out against the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor – and the countless others who have been killed at the hands of structural racism. Hands that continually deny mobility to people of color, pressing them into the ground, holding them down, deaf to their requests to be treated with respect, robbing them of the ability to breathe…
To my brothers and sisters who are suffering so – I am at a complete loss as to what words I can offer that would provide comfort, other than to say that I hold you in my heart, as aching as it is, and I, along with so many others in the UCSF community, stand with you as steadfast allies.
But I ask every one of us who is exempted from experiencing racism through the unearned privilege of the color of our skin, to take a moment, either right now or later today, to read the words below and listen to the song at the end. It will only require five minutes of your time, and I ask you to make this small act on behalf of all those who live a life of fear every day. Understanding the true meaning of privilege – the way it walls us off from one another, the way it constitutes the foundation of prejudice and discrimination – is an essential step toward the dismantling of structural racism.
Facebook post by Shola Richards
From a widespread social media post as of May 28:
I have privilege as a white person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice:
I can go birding (#ChristianCooper)
I can go jogging (#AhmaudArbery)
I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothamJean and #AtatianaJefferson)
I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride)
I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark)
I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards)
I can play loud music (#JordanDavis)
I can sell CDs (#AltonSterling)
I can sleep (#AiyanaJones)
I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown)
I can play cops and robbers (#TamirRice)
I can go to church (#Charleston9)
I can walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin)
I can hold a hair brush while leaving my own bachelor party (#SeanBell)
I can party on New Years (#OscarGrant)
I can get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland)
I can lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile)
I can break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones)
I can shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford)
I can have a disabled vehicle (#TerenceCrutcher)
I can read a book in my own car (#KeithScott)
I can be a 10yr old walking with our grandfather (#CliffordGlover)
I can decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese)
I can ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans)
I can cash a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood)
I can take out my wallet (#AmadouDiallo)
I can run (#WalterScott)
I can breathe (#EricGarner)
I can live (#FreddieGray)
I can BE ARRESTED WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING MURDERED (#GeorgeFloyd)
In solidarity,
Dan