THE STONE AGE INSTITUTE STANDS AGAINST RACISM

Black lives matter. All over the world. The Stone Age Institute stands united with those who seek to end racism. We are committed to promoting diversity and equity and stand staunchly against beliefs and behaviors that promote and express racism, intolerance and hatred. Like many of you, we have followed the tragic events in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and elsewhere, and the demonstrations around the nation and the world calling for an end to racist thinking, beliefs and actions. This movement justly calls for profound, necessary changes in societal institutions that support systemic racism, racial violence and injustice.

The Stone Age Institute has a long tradition of supporting African scholars, students, and teachers in the form of postdoctoral fellowships, student scholarships, attendance at international conferences and symposia, teacher training workshops, and student and teacher field trips to museums and prehistoric sites. We have also worked toward the improvement of teaching collections and museum exhibits in Africa, as well as the creation of an educational monument at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania to highlight our shared evolutionary origins and the rich prehistoric heritage in Africa, for visitors from Tanzania and around the world. We firmly believe that our human diversity provides for essential enrichment of our lives and the human experience and that we all must work against hatred and intolerance that act to tear us apart.

We will continue to strive to support black students and scholars here in America and around the world. We urge students, scholars, and the public to actively seek resources to help promote further understanding and help foster changes in society’s attitudes and institutions. One valuable starting point is the American Anthropological Association's webpage Confronting Anti-BIPOC Racism, where resources are provided for students, teachers, scholars and the public to help teach and learn about ways to deal with and combat racism (BIPOC racism refers to racism against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color).

We must all work together toward more just, equitable, and nonracist societies.