YWCA Columbus joins marginalized communities and people of color to grieve and acknowledge the events of this week underpinned by white supremacy and systemic racism:

In the aftermath of the senseless and brutal murders of Tyre Nichols and Manuel “Tortuguita” Paez Teran at the hands of police, the murder of Sinzae Reed and the prosecutorial failure to detain his murderer, the passing of six-month-old Ky’Air Thomas, and the slew of recent anti-AAPI violence, we grieve.

We grieve alongside the mothers of color who worry if their child will make it home – or to their first birthday.

We grieve with the understanding that these tragedies are the result of intersecting systems doing exactly what they were designed to do – protect property, power, and capital at the expense of people, especially the most vulnerable.

And we are collectively summoned.

Despite the billions spent in diversity recruitment, training, body cameras and other such “reforms,” law enforcement killed more people in 2022 than ever before. Yet, our nation still struggles to reckon with the violent nature of white supremacy that underpins this violence. The connecting thread of white supremacy is one that has been systematically designed, entrenched in education systems, and enacted by destabilizing and under-resourcing marginalized communities.

White supremacy is a threat to the lives of all people and to the peace and wellbeing of the nation as a whole. Allowing our mission to guide our action, YWCA Columbus will continue to demonstrate solidarity with all victims and communities of color who are subjected to the codification of racism in America’s systems and structures. You have our hearts, but more importantly, our hands and our work. Until all of us are safe, none of us are safe. Until justice, just is.

 

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