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LBC INC. statement against systemic racism

June 4, 2020

To the members of the Lyman Briggs College community, 

We, the members of the LBC Committee for Inclusivity are in solidarity with organizers of private and public resistance to systemic anti-Black racism. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and so many other Black people have experienced collective trauma as generations of racism, injustice, and murder have been leveled against Black communities in the U.S. We recognize the emotional toll of this trauma and wish to support all Black students, staff, advisors and faculty in our community.

At this time, we are reminded of the unfinished essay by Professor Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, assistant professor of physics, astrophysics and women’s studies at the University of New Hampshire, entitled “What is the plan for including Tamir Rice in STEM?” One particularly powerful passage is this:

"So, I have a question: what is the plan for including Tamir Rice in STEM? Are they aware that it is hard for dead Black children to become scientists? Are they aware that it is hard for Philando Castile to encourage his daughter to become a scientist? Are they aware that Alton Sterling’s children no longer have a father to help pay for the books that might open their minds to science?"

As a community, it is our responsibility and duty to spend time in educating ourselves and listening to Black voices and looking toward Black leadership for instruction. Our community is encouraged to consider following Black Lives Matter Lansing. On Wednesday, June 3rd, they held an Online Call to Action, where they, in partnership with a number of additional Black organizations in the Greater Lansing area, shared their calls to action and demands. In addition, you can follow Black Lives Matter Michigan for state-wide information as it becomes available. 

Our Lyman Briggs community can only grow stronger as we listen to one another and humbly learn together. We must call out injustices and support those in need.

-LBC Committee for Inclusivity

June 19, 2020 Update: Resources

We believe it is important to examine science and how it has been used to maintain racist hierarchies.

We have curated a number of resources on the historical contexts of scientific racism and how the misuse of genetics research has led to supporting the maintenance of racial hierarchies. Find them below.

  • DeSalle, Rob, and Ian Tattersall. Troublesome Science: The Misuse of Genetics and Genomics in Understanding Race. New York: Columbia University Press; 2018. Ebook.
  • Harding, S. (Ed). The “Racial” Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future. Indiana University Press, 1993.
  • Morning, Ann. The nature of race: How scientists think and teach about human difference. Univ of California Press, 2011.
  • Nelson, Alondra. The social life of DNA: Race, reparations, and reconciliation after the genome. Beacon Press, 2016.
  • Reardon, Jenny. The postgenomic condition: Ethics, justice, and knowledge after the genome. University of Chicago Press, 2017.
  • Saini, Angela. Superior: The Return of Race Science. Beacon Press, 2020.
  • Snorton, C. Riley. Black on both sides: A racial history of trans identity. U of Minnesota Press, 2017.
  • TallBear, Kim. Native American DNA: Tribal belonging and the false promise of genetic science. U of Minnesota Press, 2013.
  • Tattersall, Ian, and Rob DeSalle. Race? : Debunking a Scientific Myth. Texas A&M University Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, Ebook. Access offered through MSU Libraries.