We support the peaceful protests against the grave injustices in icted on people of color. We are saddened that too often they are overshadowed by violence, whether by a small number of demonstrators or the unnecessary show of force by a police state. While the heighten rage is understandable, it tends to distract us from our need to focus on the injustice of institutional racism. Dr. Martin Luther King chose the path of non-violence, recognizing that violence breeds violence. Let’s follow his advice: “The non-violent resister is willing to accept violence if necessary, but never to in ict it.”

The severe inequalities experienced by communities of color, whether
in housing, education, employment, health or criminal justice, must end. It is not enough to have empathy for those who suffer injustice and even hatred. We must take action to right the wrongs of the past. Our efforts to reform the police and the criminal justice system as well as all other systems that have oppressed people of color, are the best way we can honor the memory of George Floyd. We join with his brother, who referred to George Floyd as a man of peace and called us to remember him by committing ourselves to the struggle for justice, and in a non-violent way.