(This appeared on our front page on June 3, 2020 and was moved to a separate article later, with minor touch-ups.)
We'd like to offer our support to the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd. This comes after similar tragic and completely avoidable deaths of other black people including Freddie Gray, Sam Dubose, Philando Castile, Terence Crutcher, Alton Sterling, Jamar Clark, Jeremy McDole, William Chapman II, Walter Scott, Eric Harris, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and over 100 more individuals. Even during the June 2020 protests speaking out about racial inequality and police brutality that unfairly targets black people, David McAtee was shot and killed. The general trend of law enforcement killings in the United States is disturbing and wrong. The militarization of our police departments and tactics deployed by many serve to escalate conflict, when their roles should be as peace keepers and one of deescalation.
The protests triggered by Floyd's death came in June, traditionally LGBT Pride Month, and remind us of another struggle. Like people of color, the LGBTQ+ community has historically seen a level of adversity, hatred, abuse, and bigotry that is both disgusting and morally wrong. Protests of police harassment of LGBTQ+ goes back before the Stonewall riots to 1959 and before. The current level of phobia against LGBTQ+ individuals is simply unacceptable and un-American.
Attrition staff stand with black people, support the 2020 protests leading up to the election, and demand police reform in departments across the country. We further stand in solidarity with the LGBT+ community and send a clear message that the "Pursuit of Happiness" enshrined in the Declaration of Independence applies to all people, period. We encourage you to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the LGBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders to show your support.
