The IEA commits to work with and listen to communities of color to end racism and social injustice within ourselves, our organizations, our schools, and our state.
As educators, we know we need to stand up and fight for the rights and lives of our students of color and communities. Educational professionals have a core value that we will strive to ensure everyone can meet their full potential. To this end, we must identify, understand, and work to eliminate implicit bias, systemic inequities, and institutional racism that denies Americans “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”
This is a difficult and daily task for us as individuals and as a society. We should stand up for our aspirational values and collective vision of what it means to be an American.
Black lives matter.
Black students matter.
Black communities matter.
We say this because all lives have not mattered in America. Let us unite to fight for justice.