Dear FSI Community:

We are members of the REDI Task Force at the Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies. This is a Task Force that was created in 2020 focused on increasing racial equity, diversity, and inclusion at FSI. We are writing to express our solidarity with Hakeem Jefferson, a Black faculty member in the Political Science Department at Stanford University. Professor Jefferson has recently been targeted by a sponsored ad on Facebook paid for by a hate group (as classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center). The external attacks came due to his social media positions where he expresses academic and personal views on systemic racism, Blacks Lives Matter and the racial reckoning in America. It is the view of the REDI task force that as a University we ought to offer our full institutional support to our colleague. Rather than placing all the burden of overcoming racism on the individual, a good deal of that burden must shift to institutions that structure our society. Our University is no exception. We at REDI can’t stand silent in the face of racist attacks. We stand in support of professor Jefferson and our faculty of color and are committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and embracing academic community where the unique burden they bear as minoritized scholars is lifted, such that they can equally thrive as scholars in our University.

Beatriz Magaloni, Chair and FSI Senior Fellow

The REDI Task Force