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LATEST UPDATES from the san Leandro Teachers association
A Message from SLTA Vice President Nancy James and SLTA President Thomas Morse
Dear SLTA Members, The anger and grief that has exploded across the Nation this week in response to the murder of George Floyd has also engulfed our students, families and colleagues in San Leandro. Today, protesters in our city will remember the killing of Steven Taylor in April, and the assault on Emerald Black by police officers, which became public last week. Our students and families live with the trauma of these senseless acts of violence, especially against black and brown people. They are growing up in a community where they often have to ask themselves whether the institutions they interact with actually care about them. As teachers, our essential work of helping our kids understand that they belong is impacted by that trauma. While the issues of police harassment are critical, they do not represent the whole issue. Inequities in food security, hunger, access to health care (intensified by the COVID crisis), the shelter and housing crisis and access to educational opportunities all disproportionately affect African Americans and Latinx Americans, and fuel the anger and grief that our communities are feeling. This year, SLTA formed its Human Rights and Social Justice Committee. As we look into the future, this committee is committed to facilitating District-wide dialogue on issues related to racism, sexism, homophobia and all forms of inequity in our community. We would like you, our members, to be a part of those discussions – discussions in which we can share our ideas and hear the heartfelt ideas from each other about the work that we do as educators. Please stay safe, and look out for each other. Nancy James and Thomas Morse California Educators Grieving and Outraged by Hateful Racism SACRAMENTO — California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd issued the following statement amidst grief and outrage calling on Americans to come together to stop the hateful racism that breathes life into our institutions and structures: “We are grieving, and we are outraged by the hateful racism and white supremacy that continues to terrorize our communities of color. The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor demand that we, as educators and Americans, recognize and confront the institutional racism that exists in our systems and structures. “We cannot allow this moment to define us as a society and as a nation. It is our responsibility to work to abolish racism on a personal, structural, and institutional level beginning in our schools and colleges. It is our responsibility to have these conversations at the dinner table and in our places of worship. This is not a time for us to look away, but to confront for the sake of a fair, just, and equitable future for all students. “The past 11 weeks have shined an even brighter light on the divide, and we have seen, firsthand, that our black students and educators experience schools and the pandemic differently than many, if not most, of our white students and educators. Saying #BlackLivesMatter isn’t enough. Together, we must continue the call for justice and to hold powerful people, and each other, accountable. We must come together to stop the chorus of hate and fear and utilize our people power, both personally and at the ballot box.” ### The 310,000-member California Teachers Association is affiliated with the 3 million-member National Education Association.
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