Reflecting on the Anniversary of the Death of George Floyd
May 25, 2021
Today (May 25) marks the first anniversary of the death of George Floyd. As we take the time to reflect on this past year and the multitude of social justice-related issues that remain at the forefront of our daily news cycle, we must continue challenging ourselves – as a community – to address the systemic issues underlying these situations.
The public violence, including the murder of George Floyd, has placed a spotlight on the racial trauma and grief for citizens of the U.S. and around the world. In the year since, we have seen not only an increased number of deaths of African American citizens during police stops or while in police custody, but also a rise in racism and violence against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Jewish communities.
These moments of heartbreak and anger are superimposed on the disruption and difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has shown our country’s economic and social inequalities in full display, disproportionately impacting African American, Latinx, and Native American citizens. It has ratcheted up economic uncertainty and fear for the future and exacerbated racial and social tensions. Thus, each of us needs to recognize the many pressures acting on us, especially the difficult emotions that the African American, Latinx, AAPI, and Jewish members of our community now face.
These events lay bare and raw a deep wound in America’s heart and soul, a wound we have struggled to heal for our entire history, and which tests all of us to trust and hold hope in the common humanity that binds us together. Now more than ever, we must bring extra patience, compassion, and empathy into all of our interactions with others.
Monroe Community College prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, familial status, gender identity or expression, age, genetic information, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, domestic violence, victim status, criminal conviction, or any other characteristic or status protected by state or federal laws. And, as a college community, we are committed to and must hold each other accountable for creating a college community in which faculty, staff, and students feel safe and welcomed.
— Calvin Gantt, Ed.D.
Chief Diversity Officer
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability
Monroe Community College