Carolina Navigators' Statement Against Systemic Racism and Violence

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Article

Carolina Navigators’ Statement Against Systemic Racism and Violence

ID # 6700

The continued brutal police killings of Black people in the United States, including George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, have shed light on the persistent racism and inequality in this country, that has been going on for centuries. We mourn their deaths, and the deaths of the countless people of color who have been victims of racism and violence. We know that we must do everything in our power to fight for change, social justice, and equality.

Carolina Navigators, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, stands with our university colleagues, including the University Office of Diversity and Inclusion, to strongly condemn the ongoing systemic racism and racial violence against Black people in the United States. We stand in solidarity and support with the Black community and with those working every day in the struggle for equity and justice. We recognize that racial violence extends deeply throughout the United States and widely all over the world. As a global education organization, we value diversity and cultural difference, and understand that it is imperative to increase the visibility of resources to teach and learn about people of color. We acknowledge the importance of not only celebrating cultural difference, but going beyond to teach about institutional racism, hard history, the history of colonialism, current events, and how to be anti-racist. We think that one of the many ways forward is with students in the classroom.

Carolina Navigators’ mission is to serve the K-14 community and UNC students that we work with, in order to help prepare all students in North Carolina to become informed and effective members of our global community. We support UNC Students and K-14 students to dig deeper into global issues and cultures, and push them to go “beyond single stories”, stereotypes, and cultural misconceptions. We teach our UNC students that their “stories matter”. We have work to do and though the diverse voices and stories of the passionate UNC students that create our global education resources, we are dedicated to creating more resources that tell the stories of BIPOC around the world.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, TEDGlobal 2009, The Danger of a Single Story

We believe in life-long learning, and are committed to learning more and listening more. We would like to learn from our K-12 community and would be grateful for your feedback. If you have ideas for new culture kits, video and virtual presentation topics, or know of a general K-12 anti-racism resource to add to our list please fill out this form.

RESOURCES

“Antiracist Toolkit”from the UNC Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (While this was generated for UNC faculty, staff, and students – these resources may be of interest to teachers as well).
This list of Anti-Racism Resources, put together by the UNC Office of Diversity and Inclusion, is intended to serve as a resource to people and parents to deepen their anti-racism work.
National Museum of African American History and Culture, “Talking About Race” resource for educators.
Teaching Tolerance has a page on Teaching About Race, Racism, and Police Violence for educators, including the guide and film kits listed below.
A Teaching Tolerance Guide “Let’s Talk! Discussing Race, Racism, and Other Difficult Topics with Students”
Teaching Tolerance-A Guide for Administrators, Counselors, and Teachers: Responding to Hate and Bias at School
Teaching Tolerance Film Kits: Bring social justice topics to life with classroom friendly films and user guides. Teaching Tolerance film kits are FREE for use in K–12 schools, schools of education, public libraries, houses of worship and youth-serving nonprofit organizations. Teaching Tolerance Film Kit Request Form (Films-“An Outrage”, “America’s Civil Rights Movement: A Time for Justice”, “Starting Small”, “Mighty Times: The Children’s March”, and “Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot”)