CSSP Statement on Racial Equality
The Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) stands against all manners of racial injustice. The recent events in the US have clearly shown that African Americans are attacked, dehumanized and even killed because of the amount of melanin in their skin.
The epidermis is a very thin outer layer of our skin. It is only 1 millimeter in thickness, but it contains one of the few things that seems to justify millennia of oppression between humans: pigmentation. Were it not for this tiny layer of our skin, we would all appear very similar. Thus, at its core, racism is bigotry against the epidermis, and yet this minute human difference was enough for many of our nation’s historical leaders to enable beliefs in racial superiority.”
Haywood Brown, Tampa Bay Times, June 4, 2020