A statement from the CCC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
June 11, 2020
Dear CCC Community:
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee has worked hard to create a DEI Strategic Plan for the institution. However, the development of this plan will not change CCC on its own. Each and every one of us must take a stand against systemic racism and oppression, educate ourselves, and take direct action. Our Black colleagues, students, and community members are hurting, and we cannot continue to expect them to do the work of "fixing" racism. We must disrupt systems of oppression, and we must do this work now.
The ongoing murder of Black people in the United States has been supported by systemic racism and oppression since before our country began. Policies, laws, and social norms have been enacted to legitimize this violence, and continued silence allows violence and oppression to thrive. The issue of racist oppression affects us all on national, regional, and local levels. In our state, counties, cities, institutions, and neighborhoods we have allowed Black people to be dehumanized and murdered. CCC, too, has contributed to maintaining this systemic oppression from the beginning of our institution to the present moment, whether having recruitment and retention practices for both employees and students that do not enhance DEI, or our Euro-and White-centric curricula that erase the experiences and perspectives of people of color, including the Black community. We have also been complicit in our silence. Our silence says this system is just. If we want to send a different message, we must do so with powerful voices and action. It is time to stop hiding behind our fears and discomfort that serve to uphold white supremacy and instead make sacrifices and take risks to advance change. Speaking about diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice is not enough. We must walk the talk.
The DEI Committee has made a commitment to the following:
- Educating ourselves so that we may move forward the work of DEI at CCC
- Calling out systems of oppression in our institution and demanding change
- Sharing information, trainings, and resources with our community so that they may join us in this work
- Refusing to accept inaction and holding our college community, especially those in leadership, accountable to advancing the goals and values of DEI
You can amplify the message that Black lives matter and help disrupt systemic oppression by:
- Engaging in political action by attending protests, adding your name to calls for legislative action, writing letters to demand change from those in power, and voting for anti-racist legislation and representatives
- Educating yourself about systems of oppression and how to become an effective ally in disrupting them (see list of initial resources below and a more comprehensive list is in the attached document)
- Supporting Black-owned businesses (For lists: MercatusPDX Directory; Oregonlive.com article)
- Speaking out when you suspect racist oppression is occurring and uplifting the voices and experiences of Black people
The abbreviated resource list below was compiled with information from the following sources: Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources; Code Switch's List of Books, Films and Podcasts About Racism; Bustle's 10 Books About Race; Oregon Women in Higher Education's Resource List; Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers' Resource List, compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein; input from members of the Resources/Library Subcommittee of the DEI Committee; input from Jane Littlefield in the CCC Library; and Jil Freeman in the Center for Teaching and Learning.
There is also a longer version of this resources list available to download.
Activities
- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh)
- Racial Bias Test
- Review/reflect on the Pyramid of White Supremacy
Articles
- The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism (Audre Lorde)
- The Case for Reparations (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
- What's My Complicity? Talking White Fragility with Robin DiAngelo (Adrienne Van Der Valk, Anya Malley)
- The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture (Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun)
- Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? (Ibram X. Kendi)
Books
- White Rage (Carol Anderson)
- Stamped From the Beginning (Ibram Kendi)
- Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
- I'm Still Here (Austin Channing Brown)
- Me and White Supremacy (Layla F. Saad)
- So You Want to Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo)
- How to Be an Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi)
- White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo)
- Teaching to Transgress (bell hooks)
- The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)
Support
- Black-Owned Businesses (Directory for PDX businesses)
- Places to Donate compiled by Black Lives Matter
- PDX Protest Bail Fund
Films/TV Shows
- 13th, available on Netflix
- I Am Not Your Negro, available on Amazon Prime
- If Beale Street Could Talk, available on Hulu
Podcasts
- Code Switch (NPR)
- Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist (Unlocking Us with Brené Brown)
- White Lies (NPR)
- 1619 (The New York Times)
- Seeing White (Scene on Radio)
- Intersectionality Matters! (The African American Policy Forum)
- Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey (Integrated Schools)
- Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
Videos
- Dr. Robin DiAngelo Discusses "White Fragility"
- LeVar Burton's This Is My Story series
- Why Aren't There More Black People in Oregon? A Hidden History
Additional Tools/Resources