JCRC Open Letter on the Killing of Mr. George Floyd

 

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Dear Friends,

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven is outraged by the killing of Mr. George Floyd, a subdued, handcuffed  African American man, pleading for help, was suffocated by a former Minneapolis police officer.

Our hearts break for Mr. Floyd’s family and friends. We also feel devastated for our friends and neighbors in the African-American community. Your pain is our pain.

At a time when African-Americans and other people of color are disproportionately losing their lives to COVID-19, Mr. Floyd’s killing reminds us that for far too long African-Americans have also been much more likely to die at the hands of the police.  

Mr. Floyd didn’t deserve to die. Jewish tradition teaches us that a loss of one person is a loss of an entire world. We mourn together for this horrible death. The struggle for justice and anti-discrimination should be a fight for all, it is a struggle over the foundational human commitments as citizens and as a society.

 

Betty and Arthur Levy, JCRC Co-Chairs

Judy Alperin, CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven

Eliraz Shifman Berman, JCRC Director

 

 

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