Photo: Protests in Boston on May 31, 2020
A week ago today, a black man named George Floyd was murdered by white Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
As this CNN article writes, “The combined effect of George Floyd being restrained by the police, along with his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system, "likely contributed to his death..." Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total, and 2 minutes and 53 seconds after Floyd was unresponsive.”
I wish we could claim this was an isolated incident, but, as we know, Floyd's murder is the product of centuries of systemic racism and violence, and incidents like this are terrifyingly commonplace. In response to this pattern of racist violence, I first want to acknowledge the frontline organizers, community members, and allies who are overburdened and exhausted from years of fighting a system that perpetuates racist violence. And second, I want to acknowledge that as a white man, I have the privilege of being able to walk down the street without fearing for my life. This is not true for all members of our community.
Sierra Club is committed to being an actively anti-racist organization. I call on each of you to join me, look inside yourself, and consider actions you can take today, this week, and this year to oppose racism in your own community. A few places to start:
- Check out this list of 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice, pick a few from the list and go out and do them!
- Donate to racial justice organizations. Longer national list here, some Minnesota orgs here, and some other examples below.
- Massachusetts Action Against Police Brutality (Paypal: maapb.617@gmail.com)
- Massachusetts Bail Fund (donate)
- Black Visions Collective (donate)
- Reclaim the Block (donate)
- Read and share articles about last night's protest in Boston and across the country (this Slate article has some great coverage). Overall, the media coverage has focused on looting and violence--this is our opportunity to reframe and refocus attention on the thousands peacefully protesting. State Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz's post is a great example.
- Use social media to lift up voices of POC leaders. I was pleased to see some of our elected officials acknowledging their privilege and speaking truth to power. Examples: here, here, here, and here.
- There are also protests happening in Massachusetts today and tomorrow. And SURJ Boston (SURJ stands for Standing Up for Racial Justice) is holding a virtual white affinity space at the same time as tomorrow’s rally. Although Sierra Club's COVID-19 safety guidelines prevent me from encouraging volunteers and members to participate, I plan on attending (with safety precautions) in my personal capacity.
Lastly, one of the questions I hear occasionally from members and volunteers is, "Why is the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, speaking out on issues of race?" The short answer is that the climate crisis and systemic racism are both predicated on the principle that those in power stay in power through a history of oppression, extraction, and disenfranchisement of basic human rights. We cannot solve one while ignoring the other. To be silent is to be complicit. For more context, I recommend reading this article by Eric Holthaus and this article by Victoria Paykar that also talks about the intersection of COVID-19 and environmental racism.
by Jacob Stern, Massachusetts Deputy Director