University of New Mexico website features multiple ‘Land, Labor, and Immigrant acknowledgements’
One of the multiple land acknowledgments states that the school ‘sits on the traditional homelands of the Pueblo of Zuni Nation and Navajo Nation.’
Another statement ‘respectfully acknowledge[s] the traumatic history of forced labor of Black Americans.’
The University of New Mexico offers five “Land, Labor, and Immigrant acknowledgements [sic]” on its “Division for Equity and Inclusion” page. Three address Native Americans, and the other two address African Americans and immigrants.
The land acknowledgments apply to different University of Mexico campuses as well as to the university as a whole.
The “UNM-Gallup Indigenous Peoples’ Land and Territory acknowledgment,” for example, states that UNM-Gallup “sits on the traditional homelands of the Pueblo of Zuni Nation and Navajo Nation.” The university promises to “honor the land itself” as well as “those who remain stewards of this land” and to “gratefully recognize our history.” There are two other similar statements regarding other Native tribes on different campuses.
In its “Honoring Immigrants in the United States” statement, the University of New Mexico states that America “is a country that is built on the strength of immigrants that came here, either voluntarily or involuntarily.”
Finally, the “Statement Acknowledging the Labor and Sacrifices of Black Americans” states that the school “respectfully acknowledge[s] the traumatic history of forced labor of Black Americans,” and declares that the university is “indebted to the enslaved and exploited African Americans.”
It also states that the school is “obligated to continuously recognize historic and current systemic oppression and injustices placed on Black Americans.”
The statement references an article by Iowa State University professor Dr. Terah Stewart, who writes about how he uses a “labor acknowledgment” in syllabi to “hold my students and me accountable for centering labor in our knowledge co-construction and framing of class content and topics.”
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Dr. Stewart’s piece states that “not only have enslaved Africans labored on the lands where many hotels exist, but in many cities, Black Americans continue to serve as housekeepers/janitors/custodians, kitchen staff, and other service roles that often go unnoticed and uncompensated in ways they deserve.”
The University of New Mexico is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and its “DEI’s Social Justice & Anti-Racism Action Plan” claims that “western scholarship and teaching have often disempowered marginalized populations.”
It also alleges that “excessive use of force by law enforcement” led to “the murder of countless unarmed Black, Indigenous, and trans people like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Corey Kanosh, and Kayden Clarke.”
Campus Reform has reached out to the University of New Mexico for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
