ASA Statement on Racism

The Board of Trustees of the American Society for Aesthetics voted unanimously to issue the following statement, on June 11, 2020.

“The American Society for Aesthetics condemns in the strongest possible terms the countless incidents of police brutality and injustice toward Black people both recently and throughout the history of the United States, and we deplore the structural and institutional white supremacy that enables these actions. We stand with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black people and people of color whose lives have been cut down or blighted by racism, and we are outraged that many city,  state, and federal officials have answered protests with further police repression. As students, practitioners, teachers, and scholars of the arts and the humanities, we have a responsibility and commitment to work to identify and eliminate the structures of racism in our field and in the wider world. Aesthetics has often served as a platform for critiques of oppressive beliefs, structures and institutions. The ASA is committed to this mission. We call on educational institutions to renew their commitment to actively undo structures that limit the access and hinder the full and equal participation of Black people and other people of color at all levels.”