Boston Building Trades Unions: We Fight for Black Lives, because Black Lives Matter
Dear Editor,
The recent heinous murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are unconscionable and unacceptable, and demonstrate, again, the brutal, institutionalized racism within our country that originates from many sources, including from the scourge of slavery.
We in the Labor Movement — a movement comprised of our multi-racial working class — are committed to destroying racism in all of its forms. We must look inward to acknowledge how our own biases and prejudices inform our actions, and how those actions affect those around us. And we must look outward, shoulder to shoulder with our sisters and brothers, and commit to working together to dismantle the systems of racism and oppression that have led to the deaths of so many black and brown people, that have kept working class people, here and around the world, from sharing in America’s economic prosperity, and that have glorified an unequal financial system that protects corporate greed and the super-wealthy above everyone and everything else.
We cannot fall prey to the hatred and divisiveness of President Trump, or any other white supremacist, or to anyone who will use this moment to confuse right from wrong. We must call out their attempts to play politics of division as they seek to retain power and protect a system that is disastrously broken.
Protecting this broken system will not help our working families, protesters or law enforcement, and it assures the perpetuation of conditions that lead to events like the murder of George Floyd. White supremacy and white nationalism must be called out and defeated in all its forms, whether on our own streets or at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
We in the Labor Movement know that we cannot achieve economic equality and true justice until we fully recognize that workers’ rights and civil rights are one and the same. We have inherited a history of hard-fought victories that have provided respect and dignity on and off the job for many, but we still have work to do.
Today and every day we commit to building the world that we know is possible, and to get there, we fight for black lives, because Black Lives Matter.
Boston Building Trades Unions