Editorial Statement from 2020-2021 editors

In the past few days, the release of a bias incident opened up a movement for students of Roosevelt to share their experiences with racism, sexual harassment and assault, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, and ableism. In addition to hundreds of students speaking up, a petition to hold the Roosevelt administration accountable has over 4,000 signatures. This push for accountability is taking place in a larger movement of empowerment we’ve seen in recent months to hold systems of power accountable and have policy reflect that Black Lives Matter. 

The Roosevelt News is one of the institutions which have enabled these harmful forces to exist, and we recognize we have a long history of perpetrating these forces. As an institution with a majority white staff with internalized racist tendencies, our paper will reflect those tendencies unless actively fought against. 

We understand the students of Roosevelt are demanding concrete steps that RHS institutions are taking. To provide transparency and accountability, these are some policies The Roosevelt News is implementing next year:

• Lessons on how to report on race
• Lessons on the history of media representation of African Americans
• Lessons on ableism in the media
• A system to track and record the individuals we interview, in order to analyze what individuals or demographics are overrepresented/underrepresented as interviewees 
• Track political leanings of opinion pieces to reflect better balance

Over the years, we have lost community trust from those who see us as unaccountable for racist actions, as well as those who see us as a far-left organization that is not committed to facts. In order to rebuild that community trust, our paper must strengthen a commitment to facts and diversity in the voices we uplift. Not just the voices we as The Roosevelt News staff personally agree with, but all voices. 

We recognize that a statement means nothing if not backed up by action. With a new rising staff, we are determined to rebuild trust with individuals and communities through our actions next year, and in years to come. 

As always, you can send a letter to the editor at therooseveltnews@gmail.com 

Signed, 

The Roosevelt News Editorial Staff, 2020