AAA Stands with Polish Ethnological Society On Discrimination
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) has strong collaborative ties with other national anthropology organizations around the world, and we often add our voice to these professional and scholarly associations in support of important issues that affect the communities and colleagues with which we work.
Today, we stand in support of the Polish Ethnological Society as it expresses profound concerns in a statement about the tone and content of public discourse regarding the current wave of immigrants and refugees that have poured into central and northern Europe, fleeing war and conflict in the Middle East.
AAA has a long-standing commitment to protecting human rights and, as an association, we are profoundly concerned whenever human difference is made the basis for a denial of basic human rights. Equally importantly, our Association is strongly committed to promoting cross-cultural understanding and to combatting racism. We recognize the need to change the public conversation about migration and displacement the world over through informed, evidence-based observations on the causes and consequences of migration, and the special contributions that anthropological research has and can continue to make to change this conversation.
Movement is not new: people have been moving around for as long as we have traces of humans on the planet. Today, every one of us has such a story in our own lives or in our family histories. We must ask ourselves how we can use what we learn to better understand our own stories and the stories of others.
We applaud the Polish Ethnological Society’s courageous action that uses its convening power to bring together scholars and activists on November 23, 2016 in Poznan, Poland, to raise public awareness about the call for a diverse and open society built on the ideals of democracy and human rights.
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Founded in 1902, the American Anthropological Association, with 10,000 members, is the world’s largest professional organization of anthropologists. The Association is dedicated to advancing human understanding and addressing the world’s most pressing problems.
