Dear Members of the Silver Community:
Yesterday’s guilty verdict in the murder of George Floyd, while providing an instance of relief in the struggle to end police violence against Black and Brown citizens, also reminds us of the deep and ongoing racism woven into the fabric of our “safety” and “protection” systems. The struggle to root out that racism is far from over. This trial comes at almost the same time as the killings of 20-year old Daunte Wright, a father of a 2-year old outside Minneapolis, of 13-year old Adam Toledo in Chicago, and just last night, of 16-year old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus. As a father of three young adult children myself, my heart is torn up about these ongoing violent losses and the unimaginable suffering of their families and loved ones. And lest we forget, these tragedies are also in the context of very recent mass shootings in Indianapolis and Atlanta, primarily targeting Asian Americans.
As social workers, while we can perhaps take some solace in the outcome of the Chauvin trial, we are all still in wrenching pain about unabating police killings and other racist violence. And so we have much work yet ahead, not only to establish and advance true accountability after trauma and harm have been inflicted, but to advance true social equity and ending harm in the first place.
I encourage you to take these opportunities to find support in community as we each reckon with yesterday’s verdict and the ongoing struggle to advance social justice.