The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, was founded in 1927 as the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
We are heartbroken and outraged at the horrific killing of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, while three other officers watched Floyd plea for his life and did nothing to intervene. The police officers responsible for Mr. Floyd’s death must be held fully accountable.
The anger over the killing of George Floyd is well justified, as are the peaceful protests by many. The unacceptable violence by some overshadows and hurts the just and urgent cause of exposing and fighting racism in all its forms.
We must acknowledge that this is more than a single incident. It is the latest in a long line of
tragedies and injustices
.
It is also about the racist-fueled deaths of many Black Americans killed by police, many of which we would never have known about absent a video filmed by an onlooker. The most recent are Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Pamela Turner.
They are tragic reminders of the racism and injustice that remains in our country and in our community.
Fifty-seven years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a day when his “four little children would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Today, too many Americans are still being judged by the color of their skin and they are losing
their lives because of it. It must stop. We must take action and join together as a community.
As
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently noted, “Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air”.
We are more determined than ever to fulfill our mission of standing up and speaking out against bias, bigotry, and racism, anti-Semitism, championing social justice, and educating a new generation of leaders committed to building stronger, more inclusive communities.
We urge you to join our cause – because progress happens when each of us steps up to say,
“This is not okay.”
No one can do this work alone.
Sincerely,
Peggy Zone Fisher
President & CEO
