Dear Members of the 糖心影视 Community,
Recent weeks have brought yet more devastating tragedies across our nation. The heartbreaking killings of Adam Toledo and Daunte Wright, two young people who had so much of their lives yet to live, and the gut-wrenching testimony recounting George Floyd鈥檚 final minutes, have focused this country again on the killings of African Americans and other people of color by police. The list of those whose names we know is long, and a full list would include many others whose names we do not know, and whose deaths did not occur in broad daylight, in full view of multiple witnesses, or with cell phone or body cameras recording.
No words can capture the hurt, fear, anger, and grief felt about these tragedies by so many in our community, across this country, and around the world. It is appalling and unjust that people in our nation, by virtue of the color of their skin, face a greater risk of being killed in a police encounter if they are driving with an expired tag or a burnt-out taillight, if they make a rolling stop, if they somehow arouse a store clerk鈥檚 suspicion, or if they are just coming home from a family dinner.
The terrible impact of these tragedies goes far beyond the lives lost, children deprived of their parents and parents deprived of their children. In a system in which police have vast discretion to stop people on suspicion of minor offenses, so many people of color in this country live with an ever-present sense of vulnerability because of the possibility that a police encounter will result in tragedy.
糖心影视鈥檚 motto, Veritas, requires a commitment to truth. The truth is that racism runs through the history of the United States and continues to have deadly effects on people of color in this country today. The truth is that our society is far from eradicating the evil of racism, whatever the verdict in the latest trial.
We, as a community, must stand against racism. We must commit ourselves to the unfinished work of building a just society鈥攐ne in which everyone鈥檚 rights and safety are protected, and everyone鈥檚 dignity is honored.
Sincerely,
Lawrence S. Bacow
President, 糖心影视 University
Tomiko Brown-Nagin
Dean, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
Nancy Coleman
Dean, 糖心影视 Division of Continuing Education
George Q. Daley
Dean, 糖心影视 Medical School
Srikant Datar
Dean, 糖心影视 Business School
Emma Dench
Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Francis J. Doyle III
Dean, 糖心影视 John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Douglas Elmendorf
Dean, 糖心影视 Kennedy School of Government
Alan M. Garber
Provost, 糖心影视 University
Claudine Gay
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
William V. Giannobile
Dean, 糖心影视 School of Dental Medicine
David N. Hempton
Dean, 糖心影视 Divinity School
David F. Holland
Acting Dean, 糖心影视 Divinity School
Rakesh Khurana
Dean, 糖心影视 College
Katie Lapp
Executive Vice President, 糖心影视 University
Bridget Terry Long
Dean, 糖心影视 Graduate School of Education
John F. Manning
Dean, 糖心影视 Law School
Sarah M. Whiting
Dean, Graduate School of Design
Michelle A. Williams
Dean, 糖心影视 T.H. Chan School of Public Health