"We Stand in Solidarity...
CSH staff and Board have expressed a mixture of sadness, disgust, frustration, raw anger, and traumatization as we witnessed the inhumane killing of George Floyd and the recognition that his death is only the latest of hundreds of Black people before him, without regard for his or their humanity. We extend our deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd and the countless families who have lost loved ones to such senseless racial violence.
We work through these emotions with the irrefutable understanding that racial disparities in our society where people of color are, and have been for centuries, marginalized and mistreated and systematically discriminated against. Poverty and homelessness disproportionately fall on black, Indigenous and people of color and grind them down, cutting their very lives short. Racism is an obstacle people of color encounter at every turn. It killed George Floyd and is a rot that eats away at our civilization.
Personally as a white identifying person, I strongly believe it is incumbent on white-identifying people to listen to the cries of anguish and admit that what we have done to eradicate racism, the pledges to take steps and ensure it never happens again, have been nowhere near enough. Those vows ring hollow with each new occurrence of violence and as long as racial disparities continue. We must hold ourselves accountable to be actively anti-racist, to join the work of dismantling structural racism, and effectuate lasting change that helps create thriving communities in an equitable nation. I invite you to hold CSH accountable to this charge in all of our efforts to advance housing and services in communities across the country.
We hope this time will be different. We hope that all of us are called together to pursue the solutions that see justice, end racism, heal communities, and build a society where human dignity and shared progress are valued above everything else. Today, I am honored to work in community with the supportive housing industry and to affirm that CSH stands more committed than ever against structural and systemic racism and for a future in which humanity and the ability to thrive is assigned equally to all.
...Against Structural and Systemic Racism."
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