On Violence

On Violence

Statement on Violence
May 31, 2020

Like so many others, I have been grieved, and horrified, by the unjust killing of George Floyd.
I stand with the protestors in their demands for reform, and for a fair and equitable society. I stand with Mr. Floyd and all victims of unjust persecution wrapped in the cloak of state-sanctioned violence, I stand against all unwarranted disciplinary acts and institutions, including but not limited to imprisonment practices. Several of my books address concerns of racism and racist violence. Witnessing Sadism in Texts of the American South (2014); Substance of Fire: Gender and Race in the College Classroom (2014); Ransom Street (2019); and The Photographic Uncanny (2020), the final chapter of which addresses the killing of Freddie Gray. I attach here an excerpt, of my writing, from Substance of Fire: Gender and Race in the College Classroom, a book written collectively with Richard Delgado, Sean Frederick Forbes, Joseph Rodriguez, Blake Calhoun, Riley Blanks, and Rox Trujillo.

May Freddie Gray, George Floyd, Tamir Rice- a child when killed- Breonna Taylor, and all the other victims of police violence, and other disciplinary forms of violence and violation, rest in peace.