Letter from HLFSA to President Ramsey
Dear Members of the Hispanic Latin@ Faculty and Staff Association,
These have been a stressful 24 hours. On Oct. 27th, the President Ramsey and his staff dressed in costume wearing Mexican sombreros, mustaches, and veils in front of Amelia Place. The executive board of the HLFSA had issue the following statement prior to the apology from the President's office. Please share this statement with your colleagues, your diversity committees, and share widely. You can direct concerns about the letter to me jose.fernandez@louisville.edu
Dear President Ramsey,
Racial or ethnic costumes during the Halloween holiday season often become a flashpoint for discussions about inclusion and diversity. Sometimes these costumes are dismissed as part of holiday celebrations, but they do have a negative impact on communities of color as well as the entire community. We understand that students dressing in “blackface” is situated in a history of racism and discrimination in this country. Dressing up as “Mexicans” also reinforces stereotypes about Latinos as lazy, foreign, unable to speak the English language, drunks, and gang members. No group is immune from the harm caused by these negative portrayals. In 2013, after protests from an Asian-American civil rights group, Pottery Barn removed its kimono and sushi chef costumes and issued an apology: "We did not intend to offend anyone with our Halloween costumes and we apologize."http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/10/31/241884986/halloween-and-blackface-same-story-different-year
We believe that the picture posted in the Courier Journal on October 28, 2015 of your staff does not reflect your values or the values of the University of Louisville. We recognize that Halloween is a time when many well-meaning people may act in a manner that unwittingly reinforces negative stereotypes about different minority groups. We are aware that you have received some communications and we wanted to share our view. We also wanted to point your attention to a letter circulated at Penn State University about the Halloween season:http://news.psu.edu/story/143992/2012/12/06/open-letter-penn-state-community. In the university setting, all of us are learning about how to rethink our actions in a more racially and ethnically diverse environment that embraces the ideals of diversity, equality, and inclusiveness.
We think this is an opportunity to educate the university community.
Sincerely,
Members of the Hispanic Latino Faculty Staff Association