For Immediate Release: 6/1/2020 3:57 pm
Today, we call upon our community to rise up and examine our role in systemic racism. We call upon our community to declare that Black Lives Matter.
We do so in the wake of another senseless loss of life within the Black Community. We are outraged by the senseless murder of George Floyd. There is no excuse, no justification for what happened.
What occurred in Minneapolis runs contrary to the very fabric of who we are as a people. It is an assault on our sense of justice, our sense of fairness, and our sense of humanity. Now more than ever, all good people need to lift up their voices and say enough is enough.
Structural racism is a reality. It has boiled just beneath the surface since the founding of our country.
When the preamble to the Constitution was written, many were excluded. Generations have demanded and fought for their place in “We the people.” Today that struggle continues.
Progress has been made. Through amendments and court decisions, and through protests like those we are seeing now, we have seen change. We must not stop fighting for justice. We must not become complacent in our demand for equality. That is why we applaud those using their constitutional rights of free speech and public assembly. We should celebrate and honor those who take a knee in protest or gather at peaceful rallies in order to make this a more perfect union.
We know that to eliminate racism, we must fight against it in our schools, we must lobby against it in our housing policies, and we must end it in our workplaces. We know it will not come without the voices of those who reject the worst of what we can be and demand the best of what we should be.
Today, and every day, we stand with the Black Community. We stand with those who call for constitutional justice, social equity and basic human rights. We continue our pursuit of the notion that all people are created equal.
