The Graduate Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology condemns the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the long and tragic history of police brutality and white violence against black people and people of color. We stand in solidarity with all black people and people of color against the institutional and systemic racism that has underpinned this brutality and violence. And we declare in the strongest possible terms that Black Lives Matter.
As ancient Mediterranean historians and archaeologists, we acknowledge that our fields have too often been complicit in the making and perpetuation of white supremacy. We endorse the recent statements made by the professional associations to which many of us belong, including those of the Society for Classical Studies and the Archaeological Institute of America. We pledge to do more to foster ongoing discussions within our community about the histories of our disciplines and to work with our students to develop explicitly anti-racist pedagogies that can inform our teaching at every level.
