VCU medical students holding ‘die-in’ this afternoon
Part of a coordinated protest against racial bias recently evidenced in Ferguson and New York.
Update #1 — December 10, 2014; 11:22 AM
VCU’s die-in event will actually be held at 12:00 PM today.
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Original — December 10, 2014
VCU School of Medicine students will gather in front of the McGlothlin Medical Education Center at 1201 E. Marshall Street at 12:00 PM today to take part in a national “white coat die-in” to protest recent decisions in Ferguson, MO and New York City that resulted in non-indictments against white police officers who killed unarmed black men.
“Racial bias and violence are not exclusively a problem of the criminal justice system,” read a press release attributed to several students at VCU and other universities nationwide. “As we have seen in Ferguson, MO., New York, and countless other places, bias kills, sickens, and provides inadequate care. As medical students, we must take a stand against the oppression of our black and brown patients, colleagues, friends, and family.”
Organizers claim over 1,000 students at over 50 medical schools will participate today. Follow the die-ins using #WhiteCoats4BlackLives.
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Nathan Cushing
Nathan Cushing is a writer, journalist, and RVANews Editor.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Please note: this is not the voice of the entire VCU School of Medicine student body, but only that of some of the students. Many are not protesting the results of the grand jury decision because they do not assume to know as much about the cases as the medical examiners or as much as the jurors that have seen the ALL the evidence.
They realize that all lives matter and all patients should be treated equality, regardless of race or creed.
I love this. I wouldn’t even have to agree with them to appreciate this. It’s a wonderful thing to live in a country where you can peacefully protest yet still share your message in a powerful way. I have far more respect for these students than I do for the looters in Fergeson. I’m more likely to take this group seriously and listen to what they have to say.
“ConcernedMedicalStudent” wrote, “Please note: this is not the voice of the entire VCU School of Medicine student body, but only that of some of the students. Many are not protesting the results of the grand jury decision because they do not assume to know as much about the cases as the medical examiners or as much as the jurors that have seen the ALL the evidence. They realize that all lives matter and all patients should be treated equality, regardless of race or creed.”
Whether the unnamed “ConcernedMedicalStudent” is indeed currently pursuing graduate studies at MCV in medicine is unknown to me, but there is no doubt that the unnecessary disclaimer actually reflects the views of some med students and probably more than a handful of the faculty, administration, and staff at VCU SOM. After all, they come out of a population that has been undereducated and miseducated in the humanities, especially philosophy, politics, history, and sociology. The statement of disavowal also reflects a naivety on the part of the writer: does the writer actually think that the medical examiner or judicial process or jury is infallible and resistant to manipulation, or that the prosecutor, judge, advocates, etc are impartial and honest? Or that the purpose of American courts is to uphold or establish “justice”?
Look:
Prosecutor in Michael Brown case knowingly presented false testimony favorable to Ferguson cop
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/22/ferg-d22.html
Also, it’s necessary to remind Americans that the conventional framing of this story as a “white police versus black people” matter must be rejected. We should understand the connection between police brutality, the emergence of the police (and surveillance and Deep) state, and class warfare.
State violence and racism cannot be isolated from capitalism and imperialism, or class relations.
And for those of you who have until now passively adopted the label of “white” or “white person”, recognize that it is a false status that separates you from your brothers and sisters, and that “white” isn’t very descriptive as an adjective or a noun. “As long as you think you’re white,” James Baldwin said, “there’s no hope for you.”
Police killings in America: The class issues
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/05/pers-d05.html
Ferguson and the Right of Resistance
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/26/ferguson-and-the-right-of-resistance/print
Class, race and the police killing in Ferguson, Missouri
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/08/21/pers-a21.html
Race, class and police violence in America
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/09/pers-d09.html
Torture, police killings and the militarization of America
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/12/pers-d12.html
Obama backs continued militarization of local police forces
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/02/ferg-d02.html
Obama “task force” on policing: A cover for militarization
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/20/poli-d20.html
“Community-oriented policing”: A cover for the militarization of police in the US
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/08/cops-d08.html
Taking the Initiative Back For the Movement After the Brinsley Killings
http://blackagendareport.com/node/14591
Cops Threaten a Blue Coup in New York City
http://blackagendareport.com/node/14590
Anti-Police Violence Organizing After Ismaaiyl Brinsley’s Death
http://blackagendareport.com/node/14584
Getting Rid of Al Sharpton and the Misleadership Class
http://blackagendareport.com/node/14577
Race and Militarism from Ferguson to Syria: A letter to African Americans
http://www.ajamubaraka.com/race-and-militarism-from-ferguson-to-syria-a-letter-to-african-americans/
How They Police vs. What They Police: Reflections on Ferguson, Race, and “the Rule of Law”
https://zcomm.org/zcommentary/how-they-police-vs-what-they-police-reflections-on-ferguson-race-and-the-rule-of-law/
Ferguson Reflections: Race, Class, and the Crisis of Democracy
https://zcomm.org/sendpress/eyJpZCI6NzMxNzIyLCJ2aWV3IjoiZW1haWwifQ/
Posse Comitatus, Ferguson, Missouri, and Racialized Military Policing
https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/posse-comitatus-ferguson-missouri-and-racialized-military-policing/
Israel-trained police “occupy” Missouri after killing of black youth
http://raniakhalek.com/2014/08/15/israel-trained-police-occupy-missouri-after-killing-of-black-youth/
Obama’s paramilitary police: The “war on terror” comes home
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/03/pers-d03.html
The Great Transformation: From the Welfare State to the Imperial Police State
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=1903
The Rise of the Police State and the Absence of Mass Opposition
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=1904
The Two Faces of a Police State: Sheltering Tax Evaders, Financial Swindlers and Money Launderers while Policing the Citizens
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=1905
Signs of a Police State Are Everywhere
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/PSeverywhere.html
The Deeper Meaning of Mass Spying in America
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=1943
The Logic behind Mass Spying: Empire and Cyber Imperialism
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=1961
The Invention of the White Race
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/21/the-invention-of-the-white-race/print
Ideology And Race In American History
http://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/slides/ideology.pdf
Race as Biology Is Fiction, Racism as a Social Problem Is Real
http://aaronhood.net/wp-content/SocialConstructionRace.pdf
“Race” and the Construction of Human Identity
http://blogs.adams.edu/benjamin-waddell/files/2011/01/audrey-smedley-race-and-the-construction-of-human-identity.pdf