Now that this is a general requirement for Biology majors, it follows that some Biology students are being forced to take a class that they would not otherwise consider necessary. Before the equity and inclusion requirement, only students actively interested in learning about marginalization and racism in the sciences would take courses relevant to these issues. The work must occur in STEM courses in addition to classes in humanities departments. Being anti-racist, however, means actively educating on and dismantling the legacy of scientific racism. There is often an expectation that STEM courses and research more generally are removed from history, politics, and social issues. Nonetheless, it is vital that these topics are also discussed in other STEM classes to place the content in a human context. With the Department’s recent addition of an equity and inclusion course requirement, more Biology majors will be exposed to systemic issues of racism and exclusion in the sciences.
Often, textbooks and course materials fail to recognize the deeply disturbing history of science, placing this responsibility on Biology faculty to explicitly acknowledge scientific racism. This racist scientific history must be acknowledged in class anything less perpetuates these harmful ideas and erases the trauma and pain experienced by BIPOC at the hands of science and research. In Biology classes, you teach us the research stemming from the exploitation of marginalized groups, but hardly ever the specific people exploited or the lasting harm such ideas have caused in marginalized communities. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Henrietta Lacks’s immortalized cell line, and the treatment of Rosalind Franklin are only a few of many examples. Similarly, scientific discoveries have been made to the extreme detriment of BIPOC, women and femmes, and other minorities. Our letter will focus particularly on curricula within Biology classes and access to research.Ĭontext/ Issue: Science has been used as a tool to perpetuate racist and sexist ideas throughout history, such as by Francis Galton to promote eugenics and scientific racism. However, we envision further progress within the Department and have done the work of outlining current issues and actionable solutions below. These are great first steps and we are appreciative of your commitment to this work.
First, we acknowledge the Biology Department’s current work to combat racism in our educational system and to integrate anti-racist values and practices. This letter is from students in the Biology Department and will address issues that are perpetuating racism and negatively impacting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students in the Biology Department. Reed’21, Nelson’22, and Mirow’22 would like to thank Claire Hawthorne’21, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and other students who helped edit this piece. After careful review of curricula and research opportunities within the Biology Department, Danielle Reed ’21, Eva Nelson’22, and Andrea Mirow’22 (with the support of 105 signatories as of May 11, 2021) call for the following steps to further integrate anti-racist values and practices within the Biology Department.
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