The murder of George Floyd is a flashpoint in the struggle of people of color to obtain dignity, equity, and civil rights in America, but the story starts long before the founding of these United States. It began with the arrival of the first African slaves on the American continent in 1619. The struggle continued with the Three-Fifths Compromise in the U.S. Constitution, that counted each enslaved individual as less than a whole person. It continued with the slave catchers of both North and South, and with the massacre of black Union troops held as prisoners at Fort Pillow in Tennessee.
This history of struggle against injustice and cruelty continued with the Black Codes and the Jim Crow laws, with lynchings, with voter suppression, with redlining, with violence and murder at the hands of police officers. African Americans have endured far too much injustice, far too much cruelty, far too much bigotry, and far too much violent death. We must rebuke and rectify this history of injustice, reform our society, and pursue equity to finally live up to that supposedly most American of ideals that “All are created equal.” We at CauseImpact stand ready to listen, to learn, to amplify the voices of people of color, and to do our part to ensure that our neighbors, our communities and our country embrace the certain knowledge that Black Lives Matter.
In solidarity,
The partners at CauseImpact:
Tom Bishop
Matt Lewis
Sean McGee