The senseless killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and most recently, George Floyd have once again brought the scourge of racism to the forefront of our nation’s conscience. For many Americans, however, racism is tragically a part of daily life, and in remembering these lives we must too acknowledge the pervasiveness of racism in its many forms. Racism is not innate; we are not born hating people; it is learned and internalized. But we share a commitment to break this all too familiar cycle, and to bring racism to our collective conscience.
Commonfund condemns all acts of injustice and while we don’t condone the violence and destruction that has spread across the nation over the last several days, the feelings of anger, loss, grief and resentment are justified.
At Commonfund, we seek to reflect the values and diversity of our clients, and in fact, many of our employees choose a career at Commonfund because of the missions of the institutions we serve. We are committed to a more diverse workplace: diverse in color, gender, worship, sexual orientation, and thought. Through diversity, we serve our clients better.
We stand by our many client institutions whose missions are broadly to promote social justice. You are on the front line in this battle, whether providing equal economic opportunity or affordable education; access to healthcare and housing, or justice that does not discriminate based on the color of one’s skin or ethnicity. The nonprofit community that we are blessed to serve has a long history of supporting those in greatest need and for advocating for equity regardless of one’s skin color, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Our country needs you now more than ever.
The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd cannot be erased from our memories. Our hope is that in remembrance we raise our collective awareness and embrace diversity, inclusion and equity.