Since the March for Science began, many of our members have been extremely concerned about the problematic discourses that have come from the March for Science organization and many of their supporters. These discourses attempt to shut down marginalized scientists (#marginsci) and underrepresented minority (#URM) voices, dismiss social sciences and social scientists, and claim that the march is not-and should not-be political.
After discussing these issues in one of our meetings in February, two members wrote a response to these discourses. This response was open for comment and shared with our membership to educate about the March for Science conversations, support #marginsci and #URM, set goals for ourselves as a local pod, and state why we are marching for science.
So when we say we are marching for science, that means we march to support:
- Funding for the sciences- no budget cuts to NOAA, EPA, NSF, NIH, NEA, and NEH
- Listening to and taking actions in support of marginsci and URM voices in science
- Fair and equitable opportunities in the sciences
- Stronger science education in schools
- Listening to the evidence on climate change, social inequality, women’s health, etc.
- Our science colleagues and students affected by the Muslim ban