Our Commitment to Racial Equality
By Margie Quin, CEO
This year in Nashville and our nation will be remembered for so many different reasons. It’s hard to put into words what an impact these tragedies have on our emotional and physical health. We have all watched in horror as George Floyd died as a result of the actions of four Minneapolis police officers. There is no justification or rationale for that kind of depraved indifference to human life. We should all reflect on the issue of historic systemic and systematic inequality that exists for minority communities and then be part of the solution and healing.
Like many of you, I have felt a range of emotions, rage, anger, grief and despair. I grieve for George Floyd and his family. I feel despair for my brothers and sisters in law enforcement. I feel rage and anger because this happens over and over again – and we aren’t solving the core issue! Each time we have one of these incidents, I hope and pray that it is the last one, but hope is not a strategy. We must act.
At End Slavery Tennessee we strive for diversity and inclusion within our staff, board and the clients we serve. Our mission means we serve the most vulnerable and under-served populations. Persons of color are disproportionately impacted by crimes of violence like human trafficking because they are oppressed by hundreds of years of insidious policies and laws that our country put in place. It is time to tear down these inequalities within our cities and our communities and truly hear with our hearts. Desmond Tutu famously said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” It is time to choose.
To be part of the solution, End Slavery Tennessee commits to training staff and the community about the ways in which human trafficking and racial inequalities co-mingle. We commit to acts of service outside our agency that foster healing and community involvement. We will strive every day to be part of the solution and to break down the barriers to equality for all. We will live out the motto that Black Lives Matter – because they do.
To lead a social justice nonprofit agency means to confront prejudice and bias on a daily basis. These inequalities manifest themselves in ways of race, gender, sexual orientation, poverty, abuse, mental health and neglect. We see these in the faces and histories of our clients every day. All of these things create vulnerabilities in people that make them ripe for a predator – a trafficker. Our hearts are heavy for all those who are being exploited during these incredible times but remain unrecognized. Make no mistake, the racial inequality in this country began with slavery; and persons of color are still oppressed today as a result of hundreds of years of unequal treatment.
We still see segregation today in housing, schools and professions. We don’t have a law that makes it so, much worse – we have a mindset that makes it reality. At ESTN, we choose to abandon neutrality and stand up for situations of injustice. Join us in healing, hope and equality for all.