We add our voice to President Gertler’s message expressing UofT’s solidarity with, and support for, Black members of our community in light of recent events in the US and in our city (Please see: https://www.president.utoronto.ca/statement-from-president-meric-gertler-in-solidarity-with-u-of-ts-black-community-members)
The School of Cities is a community of scholars from many backgrounds, races and ethnicities. We are outraged by the horrific killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the countless acts of violence, oppression and persecution against Black people that take place daily. We take an unequivocal stand against anti-Black racism and all other forms of racism wherever it occurs.
Anti-Black racism is not something that happens only in other places. It is all too present here in Canada, and in Toronto, among the most diverse cities in the world. Scholars in the School of Cities community have highlighted growing urban inequalities and the impacts of systemic racism on marginalized groups. The weight of educating people, changing mindsets and altering actions cannot rest solely on Black and racialized communities – communities that bear disproportionate burdens economically, socially, in the justice system, and as COVID-19 has quickly laid bare, also in public health. It is a collective responsibility and imperative.
The School of Cities pledges to redouble our efforts to combat issues of racism and anti-Black racism through our scholarship and practice and stands in solidarity with the Black community.
