Below is my statement
regarding the most recent string of police murders of
Black Americans:
The unconscionable
displays of racism in the United States during the past
weeks and months have prompted millions of people around
the world to take to the streets in protest over the
inhuman, intolerable cruelty that Black Americans have
endured from this nation’s system of criminal justice.
The protests have come against the background of the
global coronavirus pandemic, governmental economic
shutdowns, and depression-era levels of unemployment,
all of which have adversely and disproportionately
affected people of color.
Black Lives Matter. We
will not sit on the sidelines and be silent. We add our
voice to the growing worldwide chorus against racism in
all forms. Enough is enough.
The American Federation
of Musicians of the United States and Canada condemns,
in the strongest terms, the police killings of George
Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor and David McAtee in
Louisville, Tony McDade in Tallahassee, Rayshard Brooks
in Atlanta and all the other murders of Black people by
law enforcement personnel, lynch mobs and vigilante
groups that have occurred recently and throughout our
nation’s history.
Racism, bias, bigotry,
and bullying are intolerable in our union, in any other
union (including police unions), and in any workplace.
We oppose discrimination of every kind, in every place,
and we decry the hatred that motivates it.
The senseless murder of
George Floyd and its aftermath has illuminated deep
rifts in American society and its culture of racism. We
join those who are aggrieved and angered that America’s
law enforcement and political systems have not rooted
out racism. To do that, those in political power will
need to squarely address the underlying issues that
enable it.
We pledge to continue to
confront the ways our union and the music industry have
contributed to persistent systemic racism.
Speak out, stand up, and be
safe.
In Unity,
Ray Hair
AFM International President