GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ — The Gloucester County NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) expressed sorrow and called out racism and gun violence in the aftermath of the horrific May 14th mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, that left at least three injured and ten dead, which crime authorities categorized as likely motivated by hatred for Black people.
“As our nation mourns the lives lost in the anti-Asian shooting in Dallas’ Koreatown neighborhood, and the slaying in a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, California, we are now presented with the slaughter of at least 19 children and two teachers in the shooting in Uvalde, Texas. It is our responsibility, as the oldest civil rights organization in our nation, to express our solidarity with the Latino, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, and LGBTQ communities, who are often targeted for such attacks” said Loretta Winters, president of the Gloucester County NAACP.
Unfortunately, many in today’s America quietly support these types of racial hatred, continually revived, and hammered in by political pundits and right-wing media. But I must say, these actions against Black people are nothing new; Black people have suffered individual public lynching and mass killings since our forced introduction to the Americas.
«Racial hatred in our country -although evident in many daily instances- is ignored, made invisible, and denied by the same system that is called to address this social problem that throws many persons of color into inequality in terms of education, health, access to justice and better employment opportunities, among other factors», added Wilfredo «Wil» Rojas, Communications Chair for the branch.
The Gloucester County NAACP raised the irony of the situation in the United States of America where racial discrimination was rejected through several Supreme Court decisions. The mantra of our American democracy is that all people are equal before the law. No discrimination may be established for race, color, sex, birth, origin, social condition, or political or religious ideas. Both the laws and the public education system will embody these principles of essential human equality.”
“The Gloucester County NAACP is not interested in hearing from federal, state, and local authorities explaining away their failures in addressing racist incidents of violence. We want to see the creation of a federal officer that will provide oversight and lead an effort to educate the American people about racism and its effects on people of color”, Winters said. “Negative depictions of people of color, Muslims, Jews, and LGBTQ people, fosters White supremacy. Unfortunately, in that case, we will continue to have more incidents like Buffalo’s,” said Loretta Winters, branch president, emphatically.
