This guide is intended to provide general information about anti-racism, diversity, and inclusion as well as information and resources for social justice issues within and beyond the Whittier College community. This guide should serve as an introduction to these key issues and is by no means an exhaustive list of initiatives or resources nor does it encapsulate the many facets of the larger conversations needed to address these issues.
Statement Condemning Violence & Racism
Wardman Library supports the Association of College & Research Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Society of American Archivists in condemning violence and racism towards Black people and all people of color. We endorse the statement of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, which condemned the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers within the Minneapolis Police Department. We endorse the statement of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, which denounced the rise in racism and xenophobia against Asians and Asian/Pacific Americans in wake of the outbreak of COVID-19. We stand committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and advancing the production and dissemination of knowledge and exchange of ideas for justice.
Racism: Prejudice + power. Racism is often understood as an individual state of being, as in someone is or isn’t racist. Racism, however, is not merely a personal attitude, it is a racialized system of power maintained by violence. In North America, an individual can be perpetuating this system without even being conscious of their actions (Source: Simmons College Anti-Oppression Guide: http://simmons.libguides.com/anti-oppression).
Anti-Racism: Strategies, theories, actions, and practices that challenge and counter racism, inequalities, prejudices, and discrimination based on race.