The Faculty of the Program in Middle East and North African Studies at Northwestern University stand in solidarity with our colleagues in the Department of African American Studies and those protesting racist policing at Northwestern and across the United States, and with our Black students who have been harmed by anti-Blackness in our community, whether it is in Northwestern's policy, policing, or culture. We reaffirm our commitment to racial equity and justice in higher education and society as a whole, and recognize that racist policing and racial inequity at Northwestern places our students and colleagues at risk. We endorse the "Letter of Concern" from Northwestern Faculty and Staff delivered to President Schapiro on October 26, and call on President Schapiro and university leadership to address the concerns and urgent recommendations of the Department of African American Studies, as outlined in their letters of Oct. 15 and Oct. 20, by taking swift, decisive action to address anti-Black racism and racial-colonial violence in all its forms at Northwestern University. We pledge in our own units of affiliation to likewise address the institutional and cultural norms that allow anti-Blackness to structure our communities, scholarship, and pedagogies.
