The Polish American Historical Association has signed its name to a statement released on June 4, 2020 by the American Historical Association on the "History of Racist Violence in the United States."
To view this statement click here.
In addition, several members of the Board of Directors of PAHA have released their own statement of support for the current movement for human rights and racial justice. See below:
The United States of America finds itself in a clarifying historical moment. The brutal killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in the custody of Minneapolis police, has shocked the conscience of the world, and brought on a justified wave of protest and calls for long overdue police reform. It is to be hoped that these extraordinary events will not be limited to an emerging consensus within the United States of the urgent necessity of sweeping change of policing policies as they affect Black Americans and other persons of color, but will also include a broader recognition of the depth and pervasiveness of racial injustice in American society, and of the need to enshrine in law and practice, at long last, the principle that Black Lives Matter.
Members of the Board of Directors of the Polish American Historical Association whose names appear below unequivocally endorse this movement toward a more fair and just society. We do so out of respect for fundamental human rights and because we grapple with issues of social concern in our own work. We deal with the histories of immigrants and minorities who too often met with prejudice, contempt, hardship, and poverty, and their attendant consequences. Our studies are animated by the conviction, so thoroughly ingrained that it goes without saying, that diversity is our strength, and equality our credo.
We also recognize the importance of self-reflection in this moment and are committed to understanding and confronting racism in our work and society at large. This may very well require difficult conversations in our communities and institutions, but we recognize the need for action, even and especially when that leads us to uncomfortable conclusions.
The great, unresolved contradiction of American history is that of a nation founded on the idea of liberty and equality, but one that has systematically denied liberty and equality to many of its inhabitants on the grounds of race. The conflict between these high aspirations and the debased reality has led to many of the most deplorable pages of our past, but also some of the most inspiring. So in a spirit of hope that this painful moment may yield some lasting benefit: we, members of an international organization of scholars, join in solidarity with the rising chorus of voices on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and around the world, calling for the United States to rise to the social challenge we now face by resolving to enact and honor in practice the ideals it professes, and to redouble efforts to finish the sadly uncompleted business of establishing genuine racial justice in this country.
Ewa Barczyk, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (emerita)
John Bukowczyk, Detroit, MI
Marta Cieślak, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University
Hubert Izienicki, Purdue University Northwest
Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University
Grażyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia University
Bożena Nowicka McLees, Loyola University Chicago
Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdańsk
Anna Muller, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Dorota Praszałowicz, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Robert Synakowski, Syracuse, NY
Pien Versteegh, Maastricht University
Kathleen Wroblewski, University of Michigan