Our Renewed Commitment to Racial Justice

In light of the many racist incidents that have occurred in the past year, we at the European Center would like to express our continued support of our Black, Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Islander, Indigenous, Latinx, and other underrepresented communities, both in the US as well as globally. We join with Tufts University in their efforts to make Tufts an anti-racist institution, and continue to educate ourselves and take critical action toward dismantling the systems that still uphold white supremacy.

Our staff remains committed to developing educated, engaged, and responsible citizens through the facilitation of international and cultural exchange. As such, we invite you to join us in condemning hateful rhetoric born of racism and xenophobia, and the acts of senseless violence it has fueled against Black, Asian, and other communities in the past year. We recognize that this racism and violence has not started with the COVID-19 pandemic: it is part of a long history of such violence, and while not surprising, it is a sign that efforts to address this type of racism are long overdue.  We wish to express our continued commitment to anti-racism and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices in our programming and mission, and the continual learning, effort, and concrete actions this entails.

“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.” — Ijeoma Oluo