Crimson's Statement on Anti-Racism

Over the past few weeks, the world has seen the result of four hundred years of oppression, segregation, and discrimination across the United States. We are both sorrowed and outraged by the countless lives taken across the United States as a result of systemic and deep-rooted racism. We are consciously aware of the social division continuing to widen across the United States as a lack of empathy and understanding for diversity and inclusion.

It is clear that both American and global society need to do better. It is not enough to simply speak up when certain injustice goes viral. It is our commitment to spend each and every day working to educate ourselves, our students, and one another, and actively participate in creating a world that is anti-racist.

Many of those that have spoken out are calling for a return to “normal” but it is clear that our “normal” is broken. It is our mission to work towards a normal where marginalized people are treated with the same respect, representation, and safety that non-marginalized communities have been disproportionately afforded.

Working with young minds, we have the potential to not only support them but join them as they launch initiatives that will further the progression of anti-racism. Crimson Education and the Crimson Youth Fund are committed to actively funding student-led projects that create a positive lasting impact on the Black community. We are deeply invested in bettering our company by offering underserved students the opportunity and ability to access support and resources to aid their education.

As an international company, we are overwhelmingly fortunate to work with students, families, and educators of different races, religions, ethnicity, and creeds from all around the world. Diversity is integral to the makeup and culture of our company, and we are welcoming and proud of various backgrounds, beliefs, and incredible individuals that make up our Crimson Family.

We invite you to join us in using our hearts to foster empathy, our eyes to identify privilege, our mouths to speak out against injustice, and our hands to take action.

Read:

• An Anti-Racism Reading List by Ibran X. Kendi
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

Listen:

• Code Switch by NPR
• The Stoop: Stories from Across the Black Diaspora
• The Nod by Gimlet Media

Watch:

• “13th” directed by Ava Duvernay (available on Netflix)
• “When They See Us” directed by Ava Duvernay (available on Netflix)
• “Dear White People” directed by Justin Simien (available on Netflix)

Take Action:

• Black Lives Matter (https://blacklivesmatter.com)
• Reclaim the Block (https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home)
• Black Visions Collective (https://www.blackvisionsmn.org)