New Mexico Art Education Association affirms the heartfelt stance articulated by NAEA President-elect, Dr. James H. Rolling, Jr., in Black Lives Matter: An Open Letter to Art Educators on Constructing an Anti-racist Agenda. The heinous murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others have brought to the forefront of our awareness the tenacious grip of injustice against Black men and women in the United States. This injustice has gone overlooked by many throughout our history as a nation. 

 

As Dr. Rolling states in the Open Letter, any organization “that is not actively anti-racist is complicit with the outcomes of a society that has long institutionalized its racism.” As New Mexico art educators facing cultural and racial conflict in our own state’s history and present times, we acknowledge our failure to be anti-racist, creating structural and systemic change and equitably shaping human potential. Racism “violently impacts the lives of those we are entrusted to teach and protect.” With justice for our colleagues, our students, and their families as our goal, we seek to transform art education by collaborating to disrupt racism.