William A. Douglass Center for Basque Studies

BLACK LIVES MATTER

The Center for Basque Studies voices its strongest disapproval of the inhumane and brutal events that have taken place in Minneapolis and elsewhere in the world. Social justice is a goal of humanity. Beyond the borders of the United States, as well as within them, police brutality and xenophobic attitudes have cost the lives of George Floyd and so many other Black Americans, as well as the young Syrian refugee, Ahmed Abu Emad, in Europe this spring. The racism and injustice in all such tragic cases must be denounced, rejected and contested. We must strive for peace, thorough respect for human rights, freedom and equality in all aspects of our lives and those of others. Our University must be one of the primary upholders of these social values here in Reno and worldwide.

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Minneapolisen gertatutako gertaerek gure salaketa merezi dute. Justizia soziala humanitatearen helburua da. Ameriketako Estatu Batuetako mugetatik harago, Europan ere, udaberri honetan Ahmed Abu Emad errefuxiatu siriarraren bizitza kostatu duten poliziaren basakeria eta jarrera xenofoboak salatu, baztertu eta auzitan jarri behar ditugu.

Bakea, giza eskubideen errespetu integrala, askatasuna eta berdintasuna bilakatu behar ditugu gure eguneroko jardueren helmuga.

Gure unibertsitateak balio sozial horien funtsezko bastioia behar du izan, hemen Renon eta mundu osoan zehar.

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As scholars, educators and citizens committed to a more equitable and just society, the faculty and staff of the Center for Basque Studies commit to increasing our efforts to:

1. Critically analyze the ways in which systemic racism is enrooted in Basque society and culture
2. Include the narratives and discourses of migrants and integrate their contributions to contemporary Basque culture
3. Critically analyze the subjection of subaltern groups and cultures
4. Develop new frameworks to capture the concerns of minorities whose social and cultural rights are being transgressed
5. Discuss ways to enhance the access to freedom, equality and social justice of members of minoritized groups in the U.S. and around the world

Gabriel Aresti (1933-1975) exerted an enormous influence on the eager Basque urban youth of the 1960s and 1970s, and remains a beacon to many contemporary Basque writers and cultural activists and one of the most important figures of Basque Literature. Aresti’s poem “To a Prophet” (1964) addresses the universal concern for social justice:

To a Prophet (…)

It happened one day
and, since,
it's been happening every day,
this ugly thing,
which tears up our insides
in a bad way,
because we can't accept evil,
because we can't give room to hate.
That's what the world is like,
and these days
no one is a prophet in one's own century.
The moon in the sky
looks like a red orange
a mirror to all the blood spilled in this world.
(…)

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Profeta bati (…)

Behin batean gertatu zen,
eta ordutik aurrera
egunero gertatzen da,
gauza itsusi hau,
moldegaizki
hesteak apurtzen dizkiguna,
ezpaitiogu onerizten gaiztakeriari,
higuintasunari ezpaitiogu amorerik ematen.
Halaxen da mundua,
eta gaur egunean
inor ezta profeta bere mendean.
llargiak zeruan
laranja gorri bat dirudi
mundu honetan isuri den odolaren espilu.
(…)