Racial Justice

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

(See also our resource pages on diversity in higher education and on legislation to restrict teaching and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.)

• Legislative Threats to Academic Freedom: Redefinitions of Antisemitism and Racism (2022)
• Statement on Legislation Restricting Teaching about Race (2021)
• Resources and FAQs on Efforts to Restrict Teaching About Race (2021)
• Statement on the UNC Board and Nikole Hannah-Jones (2021)
• Statement on Institutional Racism and Human Remains (2021)
• Report On Campus Police Forces (2021)
• Statement Convicted on All Counts (2021)
• Statement on Anti-Asian Hate (2021)
• Data Snapshot: Full-Time Women Faculty and Faculty of Color (2020)
• Statement on President Trump's Attack on Critical Race Theory (2020)
• Statement on Racial Justice in Higher Education (2020)
• Statement on Protests in Response to the Murder of George Floyd (2020)
• Taking a Stand against Harassment, Part of the Broader Threat to Higher Education (2017)
• AAUP Statement Regarding Charlottesville (2017)
• Targeted Online Harassment of Faculty (2017)
• The Atmosphere on Campus in the Wake of the Elections (2016)
• On Discrimination (1995)
• Affirmative-Action Plans: Recommended Procedures for Increasing the Number of Minority Persons and Women on College and University Faculty (1983)

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.

• Report of a Special Committee: Governance, Academic Freedom, and Institutional Racism in the University of North Carolina System (2022)
• Academic Freedom and Tenure: University of Missouri (Columbia) (2016)
• Academic Freedom and Tenure: Spalding University (Kentucky) (2017)
• Academic Freedom and Tenure: University of California at Los Angeles (1971—Angela Davis)
• Academic Freedom in Mississippi: A Report of a Special Committee (1965)

Other AAUP Resources

AAUP Legal Work

• Amicus Brief Condemning Political Attacks on Teaching About Race and Racial Justice in Texas (2021)
• Annual Legal Roundups These yearly legal roundups by AAUP counsel summarize and highlight significant court decisions and legal developments on this topic.
• Amicus briefs by AAUP counsel related to affirmative action and racial discrimination:
  • Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard Coll. (Harvard Corp.), (2021)
  • Fisher v. Univ. of Tex., 136 S. Ct. 2198 (2016)
  • Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, 134 S. Ct. 1623 (2014)
  • Lewis v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 2191 (2010)
• Legal Watch: Affirmative Action Reaffirmed. By Risa L. Lieberwitz. September-October 2016.

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.

• Harnessing Demographic Shifts for Racial Justice in Higher Education. By Isaura Pulido. Fall 2023.
• Curbing Dog-Whistle Politics. By Lynn Pasquerella. Fall 2023.
• Dispatches from States under Legislatve Attack. By Karma R. Chávex, David Barber, Sara Kilpatrick, Jay M. Smith, and Mike Budd. Fall 2023.
• Achieving Racial Equity in Promotion and Tenure. By Chavella Pittman. Winter 2023.
• Building a Framework of Values for the University. An interview with Davarian L. Baldwin by Jennifer Mittelstadt. Fall 2022.
• System Error for Connecticut's Community College Consolidation. By Colena Sesanker. Fall 2022.
• American Higher Education's Past Was Gilded, Not Golden. By Elizabeth Tandy Shermer. Fall 2022.
• Academic Motherhood and the Unrecognized Labors of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Women of Color. By Atia Sattar. Spring 2022.
• Confronting the Wealth Transfer from Tribal Nations That Established Land-Grant Universities. By Stephen M. Gavazzi and John N. Low. Spring 2022.
• Antiracism, Social Justice, and the California Faculty Association. By Charles Toombs. Winter 2022.
• Battling Institutional Debt at HBCUs. By Andrew J. Douglas. Winter 2022.
• Critical Race Theory and the Assault on Antiracist Thinking. By Rana Jaleel. Fall 2021.
• Holding the Line against Attacks on Critical Race Theory in Nebraska. By William Avilés. Fall 2021.
• Bringing Abolition to the Ivory Tower. By Terri Smith and Adom Getachew. Spring 2021.
• Budget Justice. By Christopher Newfield. Spring 2021.
• Challenges and Possibilities at HBCUs after the COVID-19 Pandemic. By Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Kimberly M. Jackson. Spring 2021.
• Reclaiming Paul Robeson in the Time of COVID-19. By Donna Murch and Todd Wolfson. Spring 2021.
• Equity beyond COVID-19. By Simon Feldman and Afshan Jafar. Winter 2021.
• How Diversity Rhetoric Obscures Structural Inequities in Higher Education. By Cathryn Bailey. Fall 2020.
• Higher Education’s Reckoning with Slavery. By Leslie M. Harris. Winter 2020.
• What Is Intersectionality and Why Is It Important? By Anne Sisson Runyan. November–December 2018.
• Intersectional and Anticarceral Approaches to Sexual Violence in the Academy. By Grace Kyungwon Hong. November–December 2018.
• Austerity Is Class War. By Rachel Ida Buff. November–December 2018.
• How Our AAUP Chapter Responded to Postelection Violence. By Amy Hagopian and Eva Cherniavsky. November–December 2017.
• Eight Actions to Reduce Racism in College Classrooms. By Shaun R. Harper and Charles H. F. Davis III. November–December 2016.
• Campus Activism and Competing Racial Narratives. By Peter Halewood. November–December 2016.
• Why Standardized Tests Have Standardized Postracial Ideology. By Ibram X. Kendi. November–December 2016.
• From Punitive Pedagogies to Liberated Learning. By Janell Hobson. November–December 2016.
• Campus Activism, Academic Freedom, and the AAUP. By Emily M. S. Houh. November–December 2016.
• The Demographic Dividend. By Anne-Marie Nuñez and Elizabeth Murakami-Ramalho. January–February 2012.
• How to Paint a Better Picture of HBCUs. By Marybeth Gasman and Nelson Bowman III. May–June 2011.

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.

• 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).
• The Nondebate about Critical Race Theory and Our American Moment. By Harvey Graff. Volume 13 (2022).
• Do Bans on Teaching "Divisive Concepts" Interfere with Students' Right to Know? By Juliet Dee. Volume 13 (2022).
• The War Over the Future of Academic Freedom. By Libby Lewis. Volume 13 (2022).
• Black Out: Backlash and Betrayal in the Academy and Beyond. By Lori Latrice Martin. Volume 13 (2022).
• Towards an Unpatriotic Education: Du Bois, Woodson, and the Threat of Nationalist Mythologies. By William Horne. Volume 13 (2022).
• 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).  
• Gentrifying the University and Disempowering the Professoriate: Professionalizing Academic Administration for Neoliberal Governance. By Beth F. Baker. Volume 11 (2020)
• Speech, Academic Freedom, and Privilege. By John F. Covaleskie. Volume 10 (2019).
• 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).
• Compulsory Civility and the Necessity of (Un)Civil Disobedience. By Judy Rohrer. Volume 10 (2019).
• A Vision for Scholar-Activists of Color. By John Streamas. Volume 10 (2019).
• When Free Speech Disrupts Diversity Initiatives: What We Value and What We Do Not. By Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt. Volume 9 (2018).
• Diversity Work: Testing the Waters of Academic Freedom and the Cultural Climate on Campus. By Kevicha Echols and Juan Morales-Flores. Volume 9 (2018).
• “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).
• 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.

• Blog posts focusing on racism and antiracism
• Blog posts focusing on diversity
• Blog posts focusing on affirmative action

AAUP Chapter Actions and Resources

• Racial Justice Roundtable. AAUP chapter leaders talk about racial justice work their chapters have engaged in. We talk about initiatives that different chapters are working on or have completed, the factors that prompted the chapters to focus on these initiatives, and challenges encountered in the process.
• AAUP Maryland Conference letter to state legislature opposing proposed educational gag order. 
• Midwest AAUP Coalition’s “Call for Racial Justice on Campus”
• United Academics of Oregon State University just ratified a new contract that included letters of agreement (titled Committee on Respectful Workplace and Acknowledgement of Exceptional Service) designed to help support the recruitment, hiring, and retention of faculty of color and faculty from other subordinated groups.
• Fairfield University FWC/AAUP Statement in Support of @BlackStagsMatter Campaign
• UCHC-AAUP Dear Colleague Letter on George Floyd
• Rider AAUP Chapter Statement on Racial Injustice
• UVM United Academics Statement on Racial Justice
• Rutgers AAUP-AFT Call to Action: Justice for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor
• Statement from the Executive Committee of URI/AAUP
• PSU-AAUP Joint Statement on George Floyd and PSU Campus Police
• United Academics of University of Oregon Statement on Steps Towards Dismantling White Supremacy
• GSU-AAUP open letter in response to a students' book burning
• California Faculty Association Statement of Anti-Racism and Social Justice Demands

Organizational Change Resources

• Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization
• AAUP Chapters and Campus Police Forces: First Steps

Additional Resources

Reading List: Racial Justice and Higher Education

• Colleges Can Help Resolve Our Racial Crisis. By Larry E. Davis. Inside Higher Ed. September 24, 2020.
• #BlackInTheIvory (Twitter hashtag started by Shardé M. Davis and Joy Melody Woods, 2020)
• 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.
• Jim Crow Campus: Higher Education and the Struggle for a New Southern Social Order. By Joy Ann Williamson-Lott. Teachers College Press, 2018.
• Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Universities. By Craig Steven Wilder. Bloomsbury Press, 2013. 
• The Black Revolution on Campus. By Martha Biondi. University of California Press, 2012. 
• On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. By Sara Ahmed. Duke University Press, 2012.
• 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).