In the months since Breonna Taylor and George Floyd were killed by police last spring, public outrage over anti-Black racism has inspired widespread protests, conversations and calls for reform. It is a movement with origins both recent and centuries old, and continues to spark in protest, as in the recent case of Jacob Blake, a black man shot by police in Kenosha, Wis. For students at the University of Connecticut, a new course will introduce them to the foundational history of systemic and anti-Black racism in the U.S. that underlies the current movement.<\/p>\n
The course, U.S. Anti-Black Racism, is a 1-credit hour offering. It will be available as a free, online course to UConn students with plans to open the course to other members of the UConn community.<\/p>\n
It came into existence during a virtual town hall hosted by UConn\u2019s African American Cultural Center in July 2020. Two students, Guymara Manigat and Wanjiku Gatheru, pointed out during the town hall that the University responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a 1-credit hour course, but had not done something similar to address the pandemic of anti-Black racism. President Tom Katsouleas promised to make such a course part of the curriculum, an effort that has been led by partnerships between several faculty and University offices.<\/p>\n
The new class, which will begin later in the fall semester, is meant as an introduction to concepts of systemic and anti-Black racism, not a comprehensive history.<\/p>\n