June 1, 2020
The Douglas Students’ Union stands united against racism, discrimination, and hatred.
We stand together.
We stand with those rising against the inequities in centuries-old racist structural systems we all exist in and, some of us, benefit from.
Racist, discriminatory, and hateful acts can not and will not be tolerated. Everyone deserves the right to live in a world without fear of persecution, violence, hatred and death.
Today, and everyday, we stand in support for all those who have and continue to face discrimination because of the colour of their skin. We commit to dismantling the systems that oppress and hold up discrimination.
Our hearts go out to those who have lost family members. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Regis Korchinski-Paquet and countless others have senselessly lost their lives due to police brutality in both the United States and Canada. This needs to come to an end. We demand justice and accountability.
We stand with the black community. We hear you.
We acknowledge that Canada is not exempt from the history of and continued, on-going violence. Canada’s current colonial system is also built on a foundation of systemic racism and violence against the Indigenous Peoples of this land that we occupy.
We are taking a pause to our regular content for inner reflection, to find ways that we, the Douglas Students’ Union, can do better and show up every day as an organization.
We will begin by sharing some resources to help you begin the important work to become anti-racist because this is the only way forward.
We encourage you to listen to the voices that need to be heard. We encourage you to take time to become aware, learn and self-reflect. We encourage you to take action by addressing ingrained racism within yourself, your family and in your community. Consider how you can use your power, your voice and your ability to dismantle systemic racism. You can begin by heading to “Black Live Matter Ways to Help”.
We commit to doing the same.
We are constantly sharing and posting on our social media, so to continue this conversation please join us over on Facebook or Instagram @thedsu6.
(Photo credit: Sacré Frangine – https://sacreefrangine.com/)