School of Humanities | A message from Dean Tyrus Miller:

A message from Dean Tyrus Miller:

Dear UCI School of Humanities faculty, staff, and students,

I write, as dean, to express my outrage and sorrow for the violent and brutal death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. This was not an isolated incident by a rogue policeman nor a local event involving a badly governed police department. It was the latest in a nation-wide, decades-long pattern of police killings of black men and women, the deadly expression of institutionalized racism and anti-black fear and hatred, with deep roots in the history of slavery and oppression in our country.

Communities across the United States have risen up in righteous protest and resistance over the death of Mr. Floyd and other victims of racist killings including Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. During the last few days, we have witnessed police and militarized force turned against civil protests, as well as the arrest and firing on journalists covering the protests in support of our constitutional rights to free speech and a free press. The White House has encouraged an atmosphere of violence with threatening messages about protests being met with “shooting,” “vicious dogs,” and “ominous weapons.” I want at this time to particularly acknowledge the anger, sadness, and fears that our African American faculty, students, and staff are experiencing in response to these heart-wrenching events. Our whole community must stand up and speak out against the racism that has made it possible for this violence to occur again and again, without redress or change.

Through our Humanities Center, we have organized an event (linked in bio) this Wednesday from 12 – 1 p.m., to bring our School of Humanities community together to reflect on and speak about these issues. The event is entitled ‘Yonder they do not love your flesh’: Mourning, Anti-Blackness, and Claiming All of Us, and includes panel presentations by Professors Jessica Millward (@ucihistory), Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, and Sabrina Strings (UC Irvine School of Social Sciences) along w/ audience discussion moderated by Humanities Center director Professor Judy Wu.