The English Department of Wilkinson College, along with the
Interdisciplinary Minors, stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Black communities across the country. We
deplore the horrific murders of unarmed Black people by the police and the systemic
racism in police forces, in educational and legal institutions, and throughout society.
We support the protestors calling on us to say the names of victims of a compromised
system of criminal justice: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sean Read,
Tony McDade, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice,
Sandra Bland, and many more. We mourn the unnamed and unnumbered victim. These tragedies
are laid on top of the longstanding systemic poverty and other social injustices experienced
in marginalized communities for an unbearably long time.
We are all called upon to seek solutions--of every kind, whoever we are, and however
we can contribute best--to redress these wounds and injustices endemic to the country
and world. Martin Luther King said, "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere
ignorance or conscientious stupidity.” As educators in Wilkinson College, we call
upon Chapman University to instead conscientiously support programs throughout the
university committed to teaching the knowledge, texts, and creative expression born
of struggle against racist violence, anti-Blackness, and other social injustice. We
have learned the hard way that “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to
repeat it.” We must teach and learn this history and the dynamics of this present
moment with an investment in education for a future of less shame, less suffering,
less fear, less hate, and more justice, more hope, more peace.
We encourage everyone, including those of us who belong to marginalized communities,
to hold honest conversations about anti-Blackness and discrimination with our own
families, friends, and communities. Covid-19 continues to expose what we have already
known to be the racial and social inequalities that our communities live through daily.
We witnessed the rise of anti-Asian rhetoric and violence, disregard for “essential”
immigrant workers, and staggering infection rates among Native Americans. We need
to reimagine what it means to stand in solidarity with each other.
The Faculty of the Department of English
This is an adaptation and endorsement of the Black Lives Matter statement composed
by the Directors of Wilkinson College’s Interdisciplinary Minors:
Africana Studies Program, Quaylan Allen and Stephanie Takaragawa, Directors
Disability Studies Program, Art Blaser, Director
Latinx and Latin American Studies Program, Ruben Espinoza, Director
LGBTQ Studies Program, Ian Barnard, Director
Women’s Studies Program, CK Magliola, Director
The Faculty of the Department of English endorses the March 2020 statement by the
Association for Asian American Studies:
"The Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) wants to also acknowledge the
rise of anti-Asian (especially anti-Chinese) harassment that many Asian Americans (particularly those who look East Asian) are experiencing.
As an organization dedicated to the study of Asian Americans, we want to be very clear
that xenophobia has no place in our communities or workplaces, and that harassment
of Asians due to fears of the coronavirus are not only unwarranted but sadly part
of a
longer history of stereotypes associating Asians, especially Chinese, with disease. We stand firm in rejecting anti-Asian bigotry in the guise of people expressing
fear of Novel Coronavirus/COVID-19. We also urge people to find resources that will
educate them about how to manage their healthas well as why their prejudices/biases in assuming all Asians have the virus are rooted
in a
history of Yellow Peril rhetoric, xenophobia, ableism, and anti-Asian racism. Please encourage your colleagues and
friends to explore
this open-source syllabus that addresses anti-Asian bias associated with the coronavirus. And please remember:
frequent handwashing, not anti-Asian stereotypes/harassment, is your best means of
preventing the spread of coronavirus.”
The Department of English at Chapman University encourages students to read widely
and deeply, to write boldly and thoughtfully, and to engage in interdisciplinary scholarship
and creative activity. Coursework ranges across literature, rhetoric, and cultural
studies; creative writing; journalism; digital humanities; and creative and cultural
industries. Our English students and faculty explore and create the stories that shape
our worlds.