06/02/2020
Georgetown University Hawai’i Club stands in solidarity with the Black community in response to the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless other innocent Black lives lost to the oppressive systems of white supremacy. We express our deepest sorrow and anger for the state-sanctioned violence against the Black community. We would like to unequivocally state that no marginalized group in this country is free unless everyone is free. We are far from free.
In order to completely stand in solidarity with the Black community, it is necessary to understand the privileges that many of us in Hawai’i Club hold as non-black people of color and the inherent anti-blackness existing within Hawai’i. Hawai’i’s relative isolation from the rest of the country does not isolate or exempt us from the racial issues that plague it: we reject the notion of our state as a multiracial utopia and acknowledge the racism, colorism, and anti-blackness at home and in the nation as a whole. Although all people of color face racism in their everyday lives we understand that the systematic and institutionalized racism faced by the Black community far exceeds the racism felt by our community. We must also acknowledge the roles that colonialism and imperialism play in the development and strengthening of an ideology of anti-blackness. The colonization of the Kingdom of Hawai’i rooted in a white supremacist ideology urges us to stand in solidarity against these same forces. The struggles for liberation fought by the Black community won freedoms we enjoy in this country today, and the social movements they started and maintained formed the foundation of successful Hawaiian resistance.
As the Georgetown University Hawai’i Club we express our solidarity in this crucial moment and urge every member of the Georgetown community to stand with the Black liberation movement in their fight against white supremacy and racial injustice. We are obligated to recognize and deconstruct our own privileges while using them to empower others, educate ourselves on Black histories and issues, and actively fighting the racism we see in ourselves, our families, and communities. We must sit in the tension and discomfort that comes with addressing racism and anti-blackness and use it to motivate us to fight for racial justice.
This statement serves as our commitment to the Black community and our obligation to do better. We urge all of those in our communities to support the black liberation movement and commit themselves to critical reflection, analysis, and action to achieve racial justice. Speaking out on these issues is not an achievement: it is absolutely necessary. Our silence makes us complicit, and we cannot afford to be silent.
In solidarity,
Georgetown University Hawai’i Club
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-0KC83vYfVQ-2freQveH43PWxuab2uWDEGolzrNoIks/preview?pru=AAABcoag76A*Gyc5Ho87glDKXpU2ZR67wg
Text “FLOYD” to 55156 to sign the Color of Change petition demanding justice for George Floyd
https://blacklivesmatter.com
https://www.aclu.org/
https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home/
https://www.naacp.org/
https://bailproject.org/our-work/
https://www.blackvisionsmn.org
https://www.northstarhealthcollective.org
