“We’re all in this together.” It’s a phrase that has been embraced by companies, friends over phone or video, and even organizations like AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. It’s meant to spark the feeling that, even in these difficult times, we are all here for each other, supporting each other, as individuals and governments and families and organizations.
But the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Sean Reed, and Ahmaud Arbery by police officers and white supremacists remind us of the difficult truth under that candy coating: America isn’t built for togetherness, especially for Black Americans. America is a place built to keep whiteness at the top level of a hateful hierarchy, even in the midst of a national health crisis like COVID-19.
AFC can’t stand for this America anymore. To be in this together, we must do everything we can to toss a wrecking ball into the systems that preserve this racist hierarchy. We fight for racial justice and true equity across systems that were designed to keep us apart, not together.
We know the news this week isn’t the last time we will learn about a police officer murdering an unarmed Black man. The news this month won’t be the last time we hear that several white men killed a Black man and were protected from the justice they deserved for months. But we do know that action must be taken to do everything we can to stop the horrific crimes we have allowed to happen in our country.
Please call the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, today to demand that justice be brought to the police officer who killed George Floyd. Together, our voices can continue to reverberate against the walls of our racist systems until they shatter under our pressure.
