Maintaining Anti-Blackness: A Comparative Analysis of Public and Private Ivy League President Responses to the Death of George Floyd

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Disrupting or Maintaining White Supremacy and Anti-Blackness? Literature, Responses, and Discourse

Abstract

The killing of George Floyd ignited the entire country. Protest and rebellions were sparked across the country, as the most marginalized demanded that their voices be heard by those in power. Colleges and universities were not absent within the array public statements released in response to Floyd’s murder. The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the responses of ivy league university presidents to the death of George Floyd. The guiding questions for this study are as follows: How and in what ways are Ivy League presidents’ statements in repose to the death of George Floyd antiblack? In what ways are the statements contradictory to their material engagements with Black people. How do the statements uphold antiblackness?

Authors

• Christopher Wright, University of Pittsburgh

• Elon Dancy, University of Pittsburgh