Overcoming Systems of Discrimination and Oppression

Recent events and recent days have led to a cascade of messages from organizations and leaders throughout the nation, in communities nearly everywhere.  A sampling of four such messages, emanating from Connecticut’s Capital City:

From David Griggs, President & CEO, MetroHartford Alliance…

The MetroHartford Alliance shares the anger and frustration over the countless violent acts perpetrated across the United States against our black and African-American community, most recently exemplified by the senseless killing of George Floyd. The energy coming out of this tragedy has created an opportunity for progress. We need to seize the opportunity to create the change our region and this country needs. The entrenched discrimination that has long plagued our country, and our region, must be recognized and corrected. Each of us has a role to play in correcting the centuries of injustice; we can no longer look to someone else or some other organization to carry the mission forward.

The MetroHartford Alliance has a stated mission to attract jobs, capital, and talent to the Hartford region—the fundamental basics of economic development. At the heart of this mission is a recognition of who we are as a region, to celebrate it and invite others to participate in what we have built as a community. The strength of our region is in the diversity of its residents, but our weakness is in our failure to create economic opportunities for all our residents.

Racism and discrimination and the associated social inequities that stem from them directly affect our region’s ability to achieve true economic growth. For at the core of economic development is the goal of improving ALL residents’ quality of life.

Our role at the MetroHartford Alliance is already defined: inclusive economic growth. While we may not have a concrete plan on how to accomplish this goal, we know we need to listen to the people most affected and more actively engage the organizations that have been fighting for change for years. Our organization, with the help of our investors and partners, must bring meaning and real action to inclusive economic growth for our region.

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From Jay Williams, President, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the HFPG Board…

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving stands in solidarity with those who are exercising the constitutionally protected right of people to protest against the ongoing structural racism and injustices, which have once again added another name to the long list of persons of color who have needlessly and unconscionably been killed by the hands of these forces.

The events of the past weeks also serve as painful reminders of the inequities and disparities that remain so prevalent in our country. Although these most recent tragedies did not occur in our immediate backyard, the same underlying issues surround us. At the Hartford Foundation, our strategic framework centers on those underlying issues which include greater racial/ethnic, geographic and economic inclusion.  

Unless and until an ever-increasing number of our fellow citizens acknowledge this insidious problem and persistently act against the status quo, we are destined to repeat this vicious cycle: a cycle which erodes our country and society in ways that none of us will be able to escape. Each of us can and must do more.

Those actions can take many forms, including giving of your time, talent and treasure.

·     Donate to nonprofits and groups you support.  

·     Donate to organizations advancing racial equity.  

·     Donate to police reform efforts.

·     Donate to COVID-19 relief efforts, especially those focused on people most impacted by the pandemic.  

We are making slow and painful progress; as Dr. King admonished us, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

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From Richard Sugarman, President of Hartford Promise…

Like so many of you I am struggling with a cascade of emotions.

The events of the last week have caused great anguish and pain. My heart aches for all those who have suffered and for our country.

Structural, deep disparities and injustices have been illuminated and magnified in the last weeks and months. It raises questions and imperatives for all of us. What will we do as a nation to use this moment of illumination to eliminate these systemic inequalities? What will I do differently in my life and work to eliminate racism and create true equality? How can I motivate others to join me in committing to ensure our society is one of justice and equitable access to opportunity?

At Hartford Promise we are working every day to close the disparities in education and college access, so that Hartford's children can "reach higher" and have the same opportunities as more privileged children.

Hartford Promise has always been about Promise. And Hope. The Promise of the talented diverse children of our city and the Hope for them to have a better future through higher educational success. At this time in our nation's history, with a deadly pandemic disproportionately affecting our poor cities and people of color, and the recent murders of innocent black men and women by police, feelings of hope can get blurred or even lost.

We believe that our work to bring increased college access, college success and economic mobility to the children of Hartford is a crucial aspect of addressing racist policies and racial disparities in our society.

Our Scholars are heroic. They have taken on so many challenges. They have endured under incredibly difficult circumstances. And they are winning. They are a powerful source of hope and inspiration, and we will continue to honor them, celebrate them, and hold them up for all to see.

The first class of Promise Scholar college graduates, 75 strong, represent a tremendous source of strength and optimism for all of us. In spite of what is going on around us, or maybe because of what is going on around us, it seems even more important that we celebrate our inaugural class of college graduates - their strengths, successes, accomplishments, and their potential as leaders in our community.

They represent the promise that is all around us. And the hope for a better Hartford, and a better future.

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From Joel N. Lohr, Ph.D., President, Hartford Seminary…

Throughout our country and others, including my own native country Canada, protests have broken out in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. The protests have drawn attention beyond these individual tragedies to address much larger and longstanding issues of racism and injustice in our country.

With you, I am appalled, angered, and saddened at racism in all its forms and in all places. I grew up in a home where my parents taught me to love all people equally. Growing up with adopted siblings of color taught me firsthand how important love is and how deep-rooted racism can be.

Like so many of you, over the past few days I have watched videos of our country breaking down in pain. In tears, I watched videos like that of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaking to her Atlanta community and our country, and yesterday, instead of trying to find an online church in which to worship, we as a family listened to the entire “I Have a Dream” speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His words are as powerful and relevant today as when he spoke them nearly sixty years ago. That should give us all pause.

Hartford Seminary has a long history of action in overcoming systems of discrimination and oppression. We have long supported women in ministry by being the first seminary in the country to welcome women in 1889, and our earliest photos show persons of color studying in our classes. What many may not know is that Bennet Tyler, first president of the Theological Institute of Connecticut and the founder of Hartford Seminary, was active in the abolitionist movement, and worked in a number of important anti-slavery groups while serving as our President in the early 1800s.

Today, we continue this work through our programs, degrees, and initiatives, not least through our Black Ministries Program, guided by the ever wise and able Rev. Dr. Benjamin Watts.

And yet we need to do more. Violence against any member of our society is not acceptable. It is contrary to the God we worship and the faiths we practice. We need to speak up. We need to work for change. And we also need to repent of the ways we have been complicit in the wrongs and ongoing violence in our society.

In this time of social distancing, and as we seek to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus, this will not be easy. I am calling on you to join with me, our faculty, our staff, and our seminary leaders to work for meaningful and long-lasting change in our country. This moment cannot go to waste. God is up to something in our world. In whatever ways we can and wherever we are, let’s work for the change we need to see in our country and world. And in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., quoting from the Book of Amos, let us “not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.’”