Anti-Racism General Statement

We recognize that the trauma of racism is ongoing and continually renewed. Statements of support and acknowledgment, while important, are only a small step. The ongoing commitment to actions and to listening to each other is where the real work lies. We encourage all members of the CSME community to reach out and care for each other. Below are the statements of support that we have written in response to the anti-Black and anti-Asian violence within the past year.

Spring 2021

We at CSME, like many others across the country, express our deepest condolences to the family and friends who have lost a loved one to the horrific shooting in Atlanta, but also to the growing physical and emotional violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the Bay Area and around the country. We acknowledge the systemic culture of white supremacy in our community.

While the work we do daily at CSME aims to lift each other through our scholarship and teaching, we also represent a community where we hold each other during challenging times of pain and suffering. We will continue to work together to stand up to and fight against racism, violence, and the inequalities it manifests. And for now, know that we stand with you in sharing your sorrow and fear, and will stand by you to share in the struggle, just as we will again stand together to celebrate our community as we work to create a better world. The CSME website will be updated to include anti-racism resources for students, staff, and faculty. 

We want to hear from you, hear how you are feeling, and hear your experiences. We are committed to working together to make this commitment to change a reality.

Summer 2020

The wave of protests triggered by the totally unjustified and brutal murder of George Floyd and the on-going Black Lives Matter movement has inspired and challenged us, the members of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education, to clearly state our anti-racist values and commitments.

The members of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education believe

  • The lives of SF State’s Black students, faculty and staff matter.
  • Because of the history and present conditions of the U.S., there is systemic anti-blackness in our country’s social and economic structures.
  • Our university, STEM and our STEM education system has anti-blackness embedded in its structures, ideas and practices.
  • This anti-blackness results in an abusive environment for Black people in our SF State community.
  • We need to acknowledge the role that we collectively and individually play in allowing anti-blackness to continue in our practices as STEM educators.
  • It is our moral obligation to oppose anti-blackness and to create anti-racist programs to improve the lives of Black people at SF State.

We commit over this next year to:

  • Organize a staff-wide study group on research on anti-blackness in STEM.
  • Pay for CSME staff professional development on anti-racism and implicit bias.
  • Support study groups and professional development for the students in CSME programs, as well as members in other COSE and SF State units
  • Create meaningful collaborations with experts in the College of Ethnic Studies and the Graduate College of Education to better focus our energy for change.
  • Establish measurable anti-racist goals in our programs to which we can hold ourselves accountable.
  • Report on the outcomes of the evaluation to a stakeholder audience that includes COSE, Ethnic Studies, and Education partners.