The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Ethnic Studies stands in the spirit of unconditional aloha and aligned in our na‘au (moral conscience) with our Black colleagues and students across the U.S. and Oceania to condemn and call for an immediate end to anti- Black racism. As a department committed to social justice through an Oceanic lens, we cannot stand silent while violence continues to shape the everyday existence of Black people throughout the United States. The recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Nina Pop, and David McAtee propel us to state, clearly and definitively, that Black lives matter and that we must abolish all forms of state violence, enforced by the militarized police force, which perpetuates anti-Black racism. This moment serves as a disturbing reminder of the long, unaddressed legacy of colonial and racial violence in the United States against land, bodies, and communities that deny Black Americans safety and freedom on a daily basis.
In response to the uprisings, many institutions have bolstered white supremacy and distracted from the real issue of police violence. We condemn all federal and state actions that support white supremacy and racial division by using military interventions to prevent protestors from exercising their First Amendment rights.
We maintain our commitment to educating our communities while using our position as teachers to protect, support and value the movements to ensure Black lives always matter. The Department of Ethnic Studies offers a two-part series on the African American experience, along with numerous other classes that highlight the intersections of Blackness and Black communities with Indigenous nations, other peoples of color, and the broader societies of Hawai‘i, Oceania, and the U.S. We support the efforts of the Black Student Association at UHM, co-sponsoring forums that deal with the very issues we are grappling with now. We stand committed to continuing the critical dialogues and community-based actions needed to transform the current social order and link Black subjectivity and liberation to a more just future for us all.
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Department of Ethnic Studies