The AAUP is committed to fighting systemic racism and pursuing racial justice and equity in colleges and universities, in keeping with the Association’s mission to ensure higher education’s contribution to the common good. Black lives matter, and Black and indigenous people and other peoples of color—including faculty and students—have the right to thrive and not just survive. The inequities, systemic racism, and implicit bias evident in US higher education institutions reflect our country’s failure to redress the harms caused by slavery and by centuries of violence and discrimination. In spite of efforts to diversify their student bodies and faculties, colleges and universities too often help to perpetuate the privileges of white and wealthy people. Higher education institutions have been part of the problem, and they must be part of the solution. Engaged faculty members can and should work toward racial justice and equity through solidarity with colleagues and students, participation in shared governance structures, and advocacy at the local AAUP chapter and state conference levels.
This page highlights relevant AAUP statements, policy and legal work, and publications related to racism, antidiscrimination, and affirmative action. It also includes resources from AAUP chapters, other organizations, and individuals. Please write to [email protected] to suggest resources for this page or to share news of your chapter’s work to advance racial justice and equity.
AAUP Policy Statements, Reports, and Analysis
Selected Investigative Reports
This is a selection from a large number of reports that, in one way or another, have issues of race and racism as a central element. For a detailed discussion of AAUP investigations during desegregation in the South, see Joy Ann Williamson-Lott's Jim Crow Campus.
Other AAUP Resources
AAUP Legal Work
Feature Articles from Academe, Magazine of the AAUP
Opinions expressed in Academe’s contributed feature articles and reviews are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policies of the AAUP.
Articles from the Journal of Academic Freedom
Opinions expressed in the journal are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policies of the AAUP.
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Separate and Unequal Again: The Disparate Impact Texas Gag Orders May Have on Texas's Second-Oldest Institution of Higher Learning. By Tabitha S. M. Morton. Volume 13 (2022).
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The Nondebate about Critical Race Theory and Our American Moment. By Harvey Graff. Volume 13 (2022).
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Do Bans on Teaching "Divisive Concepts" Interfere with Students' Right to Know? By Juliet Dee. Volume 13 (2022).
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The War Over the Future of Academic Freedom. By Libby Lewis. Volume 13 (2022).
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Black Out: Backlash and Betrayal in the Academy and Beyond. By Lori Latrice Martin. Volume 13 (2022).
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Towards an Unpatriotic Education: Du Bois, Woodson, and the Threat of Nationalist Mythologies. By William Horne. Volume 13 (2022).
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Toward Abolitionist Unionism: Resisting Pandemics, Police, and Academic Austerity at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. By Chelsea Birchmier, Austin Hoffman, Logan Middleton, A. Naomi Paik, and Angela Ting. Volume 12 (2021).
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Gentrifying the University and Disempowering the Professoriate: Professionalizing Academic Administration for Neoliberal Governance. By Beth F. Baker. Volume 11 (2020)
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Speech, Academic Freedom, and Privilege. By John F. Covaleskie. Volume 10 (2019).
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Endangered and Vulnerable: The Black Professoriate, Bullying, and the Limits of Academic Freedom. By Lori Latrice Martin, Biko Mandela Gray, and Stephen C. Finley. Volume 10 (2019).
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Compulsory Civility and the Necessity of (Un)Civil Disobedience. By Judy Rohrer. Volume 10 (2019).
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A Vision for Scholar-Activists of Color. By John Streamas. Volume 10 (2019).
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When Free Speech Disrupts Diversity Initiatives: What We Value and What We Do Not. By Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt. Volume 9 (2018).
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Diversity Work: Testing the Waters of Academic Freedom and the Cultural Climate on Campus. By Kevicha Echols and Juan Morales-Flores. Volume 9 (2018).
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“Affirming Our Values”: African American Scholars, White Virtual Mobs, and the Complicity of White University Administrators. By Stephen C. Finley, Biko M. Gray, and Lori Latrice Martin. Volume 9 (2018).
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The Academic Freedom Double Standard: “Freedom” for Courtiers, Suppression for Critical Scholars. By Johnny Eric Williams. Volume 9 (2018).
Academe Blog
Opinions expressed in Academe Blog’s contributed blog posts are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policies of the AAUP.
AAUP Chapter Actions and Resources
Organizational Change Resources
Additional Resources
Reading List: Racial Justice and Higher Education
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Colleges Can Help Resolve Our Racial Crisis. By Larry E. Davis. Inside Higher Ed. September 24, 2020.
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#BlackInTheIvory (Twitter hashtag started by Shardé M. Davis and Joy Melody Woods, 2020)
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Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism. By Jelani M. Favors. University of North Carolina Press, 2019.
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Jim Crow Campus: Higher Education and the Struggle for a New Southern Social Order. By Joy Ann Williamson-Lott. Teachers College Press, 2018.
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Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Universities. By Craig Steven Wilder. Bloomsbury Press, 2013.
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The Black Revolution on Campus. By Martha Biondi. University of California Press, 2012.
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On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. By Sara Ahmed. Duke University Press, 2012.
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Interests and Opportunities: Race, Racism, and University Writing Instruction in the Post–Civil Rights Era. By Steve Lamos. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011.
* For a more general list, see former Committee A member Ibram X. Kendi’s “The Anti-Racist Reading List" and How to be an Anti-Racist (One World, 2019).
