Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
NCAOSA affirms the diverse identities of our membership and the students they serve, and we strive to create and sustain equity and inclusivity in our community. We aspire to promote an understanding of social and racial justice issues. Our organization commits to continually engage in doing this work.
We seek to amplify voices that represent diversity of ability, age, culture, class, ethnicity, gender, race, sexuality, and other identities or intersectionalities.
Diversity Resources
- AOSA’s DEI Page
- Article: Dinah Put Down Your Horn: Blackface Minstrel Songs Don’t Belong in Music Class
- Children’s Books to Combat Asian Racism
- Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
- Classroom Resources to Address Anti-Asian Racism
- Collection of Anti-Racist Resources
- Decolonizing the Music Room
- Learning for Justice
- Oakland Asian Cultural Center
- Podcast Episode: White Fragility in Music Education
- Responding to Coronavirus Racism
- Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources
- Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
- Song Selection
- Songs with a Questionable Past
- Teaching While White
June 15, 2020
Black Lives Matter
The tragic and avoidable deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others in the Black community, are a result of systemic racism in our country. The videos we watched in horror these last weeks have shone a spotlight on a problem that has existed for hundreds of years. Black people in this country have been treated unjustly, brutalized, and even murdered at the hands of police and racist idealogues. As a community, we must collectively speak out and take action against white supremacy.
NCAOSA denounces racism in all its many forms, and we support our Black and Brown colleagues, students, and their families. We respect and affirm the human dignity of each and every child, and we value diversity. We on the board commit to educating ourselves on the topic of racism, and are actively seeking out ways to support you, our members, in creating and implementing anti-racist curriculum in your classrooms. As a first step, we have included some anti-racist resources below. We will continue to post resources in our discussion group on Facebook, and encourage you to do the same.
To the White members of our community, we ask you now to find the courage to actively engage to the best of your ability. It is our responsibility to help dismantle systemic racism and create lasting positive change, whether by educating ourselves, by donating, or by allying in other visible or unseen ways.
To the Black members of our community, we acknowledge your pain and the burden these centuries of inequality have placed on you. We stand with you in solidarity, and we are committed to listening, supporting, and speaking up. BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Sincerely, The NCAOSA Board