Black Lives Matter:
A message of solidarity from the
Department of Physics

“If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity.” - Albert Einstein

We acknowledge that we are speaking up after many days of protests and calls for action; however, in times like these it is impossible for us to continue to remain silent. With this statement, we are affirming our support for Black communities and our condemnation of the ongoing violence and systemic racism they face.  - DEI committee members, St Louis,  June 5th, 2020.

We are focused on furthering diversity and inclusion to ensure that the department offers a welcoming and inclusive climate for everyone.

In the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, in addition to the fallen member of our community, Michael Brown, and in light of a global pandemic disproportionately affecting the Black communities, our nation is reeling from the collective effects of systemic racism and police violence.

In these hard times, we want to express our full support of Black communities, including our students, faculty, staff and all the workers in our Department. We strongly condemn violence against Black communities. We believe that to remain silent is to be complicit. Black Lives Matter. We believe that it is our duty to confront injustice and that no one is free until we are all free. 

In response to these events, we call upon faculty to support students and colleagues by allowing them to take some time away from research to participate in activism and/or tend to their own emotional needs. 

We call upon our community to take a stand against police and state violence against Black communities. We call upon our community to demand an end of police brutality and suppression of peaceful assembly and to support all the people who are working hard and advocating for a change.

It is our hope that by standing with Black communities and continually working to make our physics department, as well as the greater field of physics, more inclusive to people from all groups, that we are doing our part in dismantling the systemic racism that exists in this country. We believe that if we unite as a community to work on these issues, we can learn from the past and move forward to a more equitable future, together.

We are committed to building a country where Black Lives Matter every day.

In Solidarity,

Department of Physics
Washington University in St. Louis

Please feel free to reach out to the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.