McGill Physics Community Statement Against Racism

We've all been disturbed by police brutality against Black people in the US. Here in Canada we are not immune to such injustices. Systemic racism and discrimination against people of colour exist in our country and have been in existence throughout our history. We, too, face race-based police injustice, income inequality, and unequal access to higher education.

In Montreal, Black and Indigenous people are 4 to 5 times more likely to be stopped by the police.1 In Canada, both racial groups are over-represented in fatal police interactions as compared to other ethnicities.2 Despite the high levels of motivation to obtain a university degree, more so than other communities,3 Black youth in our country remain under-represented in our higher education system.

As members of the Physics community at McGill, we have a responsibility to each other and to the wider community to actively work against racism. We acknowledge the pain caused by systemic discrimination in our society and in academia, specifically. We acknowledge that our scientific fields are not exempt from racism; inequity and racism inhibit and damage the scientific careers of individuals in our community and deprive science of their contributions. We believe that Black lives matter, and we commit ourselves to working towards building our department to be safer, healthier, and more inclusive.

Real change will take sustained, dedicated effort; by standing together, we can support each other in effecting positive change. McGill has a list of educational and self-care resources: https://www.mcgill.ca/equity/resources/race-cultural-diversity/anti-racism. We encourage all members of the Physics community at McGill to take this opportunity to educate ourselves and give thoughtful considerations on what we can do as academics to fight for equality.

We further invite everyone to voice their concern, thoughts, feedback, and criticism to the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee (edi.committee@physics) and to the chair of the department (jeon@physics).