We the board of the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association appreciate the statements of solidarity in support of Black Lives Matter, yet we also acknowledge that many of those do not come with substantiated action behind them. In order to address this within our own association, we are clear where we stand and will do more than just acknowledge systemic problems of white supremacy, anti-Blackness and racial injustice.

Anti-Blackness and white supremacy must be destroyed. As mixed race/multiracial individuals, we must recognize our longstanding role in perpetuating anti-Blackness, including colorism within our various communities. Our racial and colonial miseducation must end now. By being critical and standing in our truth that one can identify with their multiple ancestries, yet also stand firm in their commitment to Black Lives Matter and against anti-Blackness, we can work towards ending white supremacy and systemic racism within the US and around the world. 

We acknowledge that the history of mixed race/multiracial identity has been inherently tied to white supremacy and anti-Blackness. That our mixed identities are politicized and manipulated in ways to benefit whites and create further divisions between our communities of color. That those of us with white heritage and light skin have a legacy of exploiting white privilege. That we ALL have internalized racism and have been complicit in anti-Blackness.  

Therefore, the CMRS Board is committed to the following actions: 

• We commit the rest of 2020 and 2021 to teaching, learning, and offering programming about dismantling anti-Blackness specific to mixed race/multiracial communities. We will designate caucus space, our new CMRS Scholar graduate/undergraduate student space, and a track on this topic for the 2022 conference. 
• We commit to a global outlook on mixed race/multiracial communities, especially considering the overlapping and intersecting oppressions of anti-Blackness globally and the specific contexts in nations and regions outside of the United States.
• We commit to speaking up and having necessary conversations with our families, friends, and colleagues, no matter how uncomfortable. 
• We commit to teaching our children about anti-Blackness and systemic racism in an effort to plant seeds for the next generation. 
• We donated $1,000 on behalf of the CMRS network to organizations committed to Black lives, including: 
  • Black Lives Matter Global Network
  • Movement for Black Lives
  • National Bail Out
  • NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
  • The National Police Accountability Project
• We commit to sustained monthly donations to our local communities to fight anti-Blackness and white supremacy in the forms of money, supplies, and/or time. 
• We commit to supporting Black-owned businesses

Calling on non-Black Mixed Folx
We, as a board, are holding ourselves accountable in our efforts of uprooting White supremacy to specifically combat anti-Black racism. We are also calling on each of you who are not Black-identified to shoulder some of the weight of our Black kin and community in the fight against anti-Blackness. Irrespective of the racisms and oppressions each of us may variously experience, this moment calls on non-Black-identifying persons to combat anti-Blackness because otherwise we are complicit in that form of racist violence. This is not a call for performative allyship, but for self-reflective, engaged, and sustained action that will continue beyond the current moment when the Black Lives Matter movement is highly publicized.

What you can do:

• As scholars, students, artists, clinicians, community organizers, and activists whose work concerns mixed race/multiraciality, we should each commit to examining how mixed race/multiraciality has been wielded or framed in ways that perpetuate anti-Blackness.
• Make sure your investment in mixed race/multiraciality includes remedying anti-Blackness.
• Do not remain silent. Speak up when you see and hear anti-Black sentiment in your family, your communities, and workplace.
• Without putting the labor on Black-identified folx, study the history of anti-Blackness and how it continues to be ingrained and institutionalized in every aspect of society by actively, continuously self-educating. Draw from Black scholarship and perspectives.
• Again, without putting the labor on Black-identified folx, learn what allyship means to Black communities and then do the work of being that ally in a way that centers Black voices.
• If you can, donate to Black-organized movements and organizations, and support Black-owned businesses. Look into locally and nationally based organizations. 
• In mixed race/multiracial events and organizing, create space for Black-identified voices and foreground the message that Black Lives Matter in the structure of your program.
• If you are in a leadership position, make certain that your BLM statements of solidarity have actionable steps that will be tracked and reported on. Transparency, follow-through, and accountability are key.
• Without centering yourself, use your social media and platforms to discuss the actions you are taking to redress anti-Black racism.
• Hold yourself and others accountable to redress anti-Blackness.

In solidarity,

Rudy P. Guevarra, Jr., President
Kelly Jackson, Vice-President
Alexandrina Agloro, Secretary
Chinelo L. Njaka, Treasurer
Haley Pilgrim, Student Representative
Sarah Yang Mumma, Caucus Coordinator
Naliyah Kaya, Community Liaison
Alma Villanueva, Communications Coordinator