Calista Reyes, Stanford sophomore
(Editor’s Note: Calista Reyes wrote the following statement on behalf of the Stanford women’s golf team that was posted on Twitter June 1.)
As a non-black member of the community, I was struck by the idea that the system is still allowing us to have racial injustice, racial prejudice and also racial violence to occur in this country. And as a member of the Asian-American community, what struck me with social media is this idea that other members within the community, specifically non-black members, still have the power to change conversations with their own family members and with members of their own community – to re-educate them about racism and to change their way of thinking. We can’t change the system until we can change the thoughts and perceptions within our own community.
After the release of our (team) statement we did start communicating a lot over group chat. A few teammates and I have been planning a way for us to facilitate the conversation within our team. We are planning to have a group conversation next week, and I’ve also been curating a list of books that we can start reading together as a team to further our conversation regarding the issue.
I want other people to learn from what I believe is valuable content, and I think especially during this time there have been great media sources that put an emphasis on the idea that we shouldn’t stay silent, but you should also take action. The main things that I’ve been trying to voice out using my social media platforms have been the sources in which you can further your education about anti-racism, sources that provide a list of books to read, a list of podcasts to listen to. Things you can watch on Netflix or websites you can go onto to further your knowledge about the situation at hand.
In addition, I think it’s important, through social media, to share organizations you can donate to, petitions that you should sign. I felt that, especially during this time, it is important that if you firmly believe that you need to advocate change, you’ll share it with others in your community.