The SU recognises the distress, frustration and anger that our black community is experiencing. We share your anger and will continue to support and stand in solidarity with our black students.
The recent murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in the US has caused outrage across the world because of the state’s disregard for black lives. State-sanctioned violence is not limited to the US but features heavily in the UK as well, with BAME people dying disproportionately as a result of use of force or restraint by police
in the UK. The events in Minneapolis for example are all too similar to the events following the death of Mark Duggan in London in 2011. George Floyd and Mark Duggan are two of many black people who have lost their lives and have not received justice due to institutional racism and state-endorsed violence.
The SU recognises the distress, frustration and anger that our black community is experiencing. We share your anger and will continue to support and stand in solidarity with our black students. These racial injustices are not down to individual, one-off events but are institutional, and prevalent within our health systems, justice systems, law enforcement and educational institutions.
Our community in Bath is no different from wider society. Racism occurs on our campus and our black members overwhelmingly pay the price for it. As an SU we need to make far more progress on anti- racism and reflect on our practices as an organisation, and we will be lobbying for the University to do the same. We will work alongside our members to do more and provide them a platform to have their voices heard. We need to be actively engaging in not only decolonising our curriculum but our whole campus, offer appropriate support to our black students and staff, and build on and support the work of student activists on campus, who are at the front line of tackling racism at our University and in our community. Together, we need to reflect and educate ourselves on how to be active, and not performative allies, in this global movement against racism and state sponsored violence.
We understand that this is a particularly difficult time for our black students and want to encourage you to access support if you need it.
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The SU’s Advice and Support Centre is currently taking online appointments. You can email the team
here.
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The University’s Student Services are also available to be contacted
here.
Please note: In addition to Student Services’ in -house counsellors, the University has engaged a number of local and virtual providers to offer counselling and support for our students. They are able to respond to requests for support with counsellors from specific backgrounds should you request it. Please contact Student Services to request these services.
The SU stands in solidarity with our black members, and protesters across the US and UK as we join the call to action of Black Lives Matter. Below, we have listed several useful resources you can access to support and understand this movement.
- For different ways you can support the campaigns, click here
- If you are financially able, you can find causes to donate to here
- For information on knowing your rights, visit this link
- “When They See Us” by Ava Duvernay - Available on Netflix
- “13th” Documentary by Ava Duvernay - Available on Netflix
- Twitter thread of resources for non-black people to support #blacklivesmatter:
- A google doc collation of anti-racist resources for white people
- Twitter thread of UK based people, projects and organisations that support Black people
- If you are protesting we strongly encourage you to read about your rights and how to protest safely here.