This statement is a collaboration among social justice-oriented research institutes and centers at Northeastern University.
Boston Area Research Institute
Center for Health Policy and Law
Center for Law, Innovation and Creativity
Center for Public Interest, Advocacy and Collaboration
Department of Cultures, Societies and Global Studies
Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy
Ethics Institute
Global Resilience Institute
Humanities Center
Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research
Institute on Race and Justice
John D. O’Bryant African American Institute
Northeastern Public Evaluation Lab
Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy
School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
Condemning Police Brutality & A Commitment to Action
We come together as institutes committed to social justice to strongly condemn the ongoing structural violence against Black communities, most recently on display with the murder of Mr. George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department. Justice demands that all officers involved, including those who stood by without intervening, be held accountable.
Police brutality is endemic to the long and painful history of economic and state-sponsored abuse of people of color and especially of African Americans and people of the African diaspora. Police brutality, and the structural white supremacy and militarization that feed it, must end. Racism and structural inequality are also evident in the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on health and well-being in Black, Latinx, and Native American communities.
We support Black communities in the ongoing and urgent struggle for justice, including through recent protests. We strongly urge that the right to protest be protected.
Universities and research institutions should play a vital role in realizing human rights and promoting social, legal and economic justice, nationally, locally and worldwide. As research institutes and centers at Northeastern University, we are committed to racial and social justice. We will strive to maximize our efforts to overcome the root causes of racism and exclusion in the US, and to pursue a path that seeks equality for all, including for Black people and communities of color in the Greater Boston area.
We call on educators, researchers and practitioners to work in support of justice, equality and respect for human rights.
Black Lives Matter.
