President’s Statement on George Floyd and Protests

To the Editor and My Fellow Community Members:


Like you, I have watched, with horror, the video footage showing the life of our brother, George Floyd, being brutally extinguished by lawless police officers, who had been sworn to uphold the peace and protect the public trust.  And, like you, I have felt the anguish of Mr. Floyd’s family as they have been propelled into the public eye to grieve this utterly senseless loss.  And, like you, I have felt a deep and unresolved sorrow over many years for the many brothers and sisters we have similarly lost without justification at the hands of rogue police officers.  And, like many of you, I have known the fear that perhaps this similar unjust treatment could affect the people I love.

All of this comes at a moment when our communities have been ravaged by an invisible and deadly virus, wide-spread job loss, and separation from social and faith communities.  Our pain and our anxiety are real.  And, across the United States we must work as one community to make our future better than the past.

We are called to speak out against brutality in all its forms, and most especially against unlawful actions by public officials that treat people as expendable.  We must do this with resolve and without the destruction that will lead to further economic instability and loss of life.  The violence we have seen in cities across America and, sadly, in our own will not create the lasting change we seek.  We must grieve together, speak out together, and peacefully change our communities together. 

My fellow Syracusans violence and destruction is not the answer nor the solution.


Sincerely,

Linda Brown-Robinson, President
Syracuse-Onondaga NAACP

“It is impossible to struggle for civil rights, equal rights for blacks, without including whites. Because equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like the air, we all have it, or none of us has it.  That is the truth of it”.  – Maya Angelou