2/4/2022
By: President Dr. Maria del Carmen Rodriguez
The New Jersey Counseling Association stands in solidarity with the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that have received bomb threats in recent days. We stand with the faculty, staff, students, and family members impacted by these acts due to racism. We also stand with members of NJCA that are alumni of HBCUs, or have family members at these universities. In addition to these attacks against HBCU, we are also witnessing attacks to teaching true history in many public schools in the nation and attacks to affirmative action programs in predominantly White institutions of higher education.
At least a half dozen historically Black universities in five states and the District of Columbia responded to bomb threats on January 31, 2022 with many of them locking down their campuses for a time. At Delaware State University (DSU), a bomb threat interrupted the university’s daily operations from early hours of the day until a bomb squad cleared the campus later in the day. DSU president Tony Allen explained the significance of this threat in a letter shared with the university community: “We are safe, for which I am incredibly thankful, but the attempt to disrupt targeted our community because of who we serve and the mission we fulfill. The impetus for such a threat cannot be ascribed to anything other than the most primitive form of racism, a form which is neither new nor unique in this country”.
In addition to the bomb threats to HBCUs, we are witnessing increasing attacks across the nation against members of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, the Latino community, the Muslim American community, the Jewish community, LGBTQ+ communities and senior citizens with many of these assaults resulting in fatalities. As counselors, we cannot remain silent in the presence of this hatred impacting invaluable institutions of higher education and the lives of so many Americans who are simply targeted because of their race, cultural origin, religious beliefs, age and/or sexual orientation. Silence is not an option in the face of blatant ignorance, racism and violence. Let us all recommit to our fight for justice and equity for all people.
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