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Below is an excerpt from the blog post ‘It’s Well Past Time to Condemn. It’s Time to Confront.’, originally posted by Meyer Foundation.

A Message from Nicky Goren on Charlottesville, Virginia:

At a time when we can and should be moving forward together to create a better future, an agenda of hate threatens to disrupt progress and move us backward in time, backward in our beliefs, and backward from our hopes for our shared prosperity. But let’s be clear: what happened in Charlottesville is neither unprecedented nor shocking. Our country has been grappling with its racist roots for centuries through today–and what we witnessed this past weekend, in its most overt form, manifests daily through the systems and institutions that have racism baked in and that many of us take for granted as we go through our daily lives. White supremacy is not just about the hate groups we saw last weekend–white supremacy is about a country that has systematically advantaged white people in all of its institutions and systems. Racial and ethnic inequity remain inextricably linked with growing disparities present in our region and beyond. These are things that we know—and because we know—we have the power to change.

I believe that everyone in our region has a role to play in the transformation of our country to a just and equitable society for all. This starts with speaking out and speaking up, owning our history and our present, and working together to change the systems that have led us to today. We have all experienced so many emotions and reactions to this past weekend’s display of domestic terrorism and hate-mongering in Charlottesville–I encourage you to read the reflections of two of my colleagues here at Meyer as you consider how you will be part of the change this country needs to see.

Read full post ‘It’s Well Past Time to Condemn. It’s Time to Confront.’ from Meyer Foundation HERE