Statement by Lower East Side Settlement Houses and Partner Nonprofits in the Aftermath of the George Floyd Verdict

12 / 05 / 2021 | News

 

Organizations stand in solidarity to call for true and transparent police accountability and
support the fight for racial justice.

New York, NY (April 21, 2021) – We are a collective of nonprofits and settlement houses
that work in partnership with tens of thousands of New Yorkers in Lower Manhattan. We
believe Black Lives Matter and stand in solidarity with all people working to build a future
rooted in racial justice and equity.

The conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is a welcome and
necessary act of justice. We acknowledge that this verdict cannot restore George Floyd’s
life or repair the damage done by centuries of systemic racism that has always devalued
Black lives in this country. But we believe this is a needed act of accountability.

Although many of our organizations work directly with law enforcement to support our
programs and clients, and to ensure safety in our neighborhoods, we remain rightfully
critical of the injustice and imbalance in power that pervades relationships between police
and communities of color. Moving forward, we call for true and transparent accountability
of police forces in our city and across our country including an end to qualified
immunity and an end to the over policing of Black, Indigenous, and other People of
Color.

Many in our communities are hurting. We voice loudly our solidarity and support for our
Black employees, members, program participants, supporters, neighbors, and the Black
community across our entire city and nation. We call on all people to support the fight for
racial justice. And we commit ourselves to working together to find solutions to the
attitudes and conditions that have enabled so many deaths at the hands of law
enforcement the vast majority of which have been met with impunity.

Photo credit: Dave Hughes, University Settlement