Unfortunately, once again, our staff wants to acknowledge the range of feelings that many U of M students, staff and faculty might be feeling as a result of the Staten Island grand jury failing to file any charges against the white police officer whose videotaped actions resulted in the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, in NYC on July 13, 2014.
There are these moments in time and society when decisions like this regarding Eric Garner, the decisions regarding Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and countless others, illuminate and bring forward the day to day microaggressions and macroaggressions that are ever present in all our towns and cities. That illuminates and brings forward the legacy of hundreds of years of racism. That illuminates and brings forward the times when we, or our friends and family members, get stopped by the police. That illuminates and brings forward the struggles of our students, especially students of color, on our campus.
In these times, we encourage reaching out to friends and family for support, to dialogue and to continue to engage in the struggle towards social justice wherever and whenever we can.
For more specific suggestions on how to manage feelings and reactions, please see our article Ferguson and You
Article published in December 2014