Nebraska Library Association
Date of this Version
6-5-2020
Document Type
News Article
Citation
Author: Ginger Jelinek, Diversity Committee, Nebraska Library Association, June 5, 2020.
This statement was a collective effort from Anneka Ramirez, Micki Dietrich, Angela Kroeger, Scott Childers, Billie Cotterman, Laura England-Biggs, Michael Straatmann, Ginger Jelinek, and the NLA Board as a whole.
Abstract
Includes links to additional resources, Antiracism: A Starter Booklist, Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries and Librarianship: A Reading List (2019), Scene on Radio "Seeing White" podcast (2017), and Black Lives Matter Meditations.
First two paragraphs:
The Nebraska Library Association (NLA) condemns racist and violent acts against Black people and all People of Color (POC). Racist oppression has been with us since before this nation was founded and has been highlighted again by the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and James Scurlock -- and these are only the most recent, high-profile cases. On behalf of the NLA Diversity Committee and of the NLA as a whole, we cannot be silent at this time.
It is not enough for us as individuals and as a profession to be passively non-racist: we must be actively anti-racist, as librarians, as members of our communities, and as human beings. Libraries often promote neutrality as a professional value, and there is good intention in this: we seek balanced and open access to knowledge and information for anyone who uses our services.