President Nelson, NAACP Leaders Call For Racial Reform In Joint Statement
Jun 8, 2020, 6:43 AM | Updated: Jan 13, 2023, 4:42 pm
(Courtesy The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
(Courtesy The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
SALT LAKE CITY – President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and NAACP leaders have released a joint statement, calling on racial reform in America.
President Nelson was joined by Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO, Leon Russell, NAACP chairman of the board, and the Rev. Amos C. Brown, NAACP chairman emeritus of religious affairs.
In an op-ed released Monday on Medium.com, they called for changes at all levels of government, business and educational institutions to, “review processes, laws, and organizational attitudes regarding racism and root them out once and for all.”
The statement, entitled “Locking arms for racial harmony in America,” talked about the organizations’ first meeting two years ago, and their shared desire to “bring hope, happiness, and love to all of God’s children.”
Today I joined with friends and leaders from the @NAACP to publish an op-ed about racial equality. We call on people everywhere to join us in a journey of understanding and overcoming.https://t.co/sAjJp0pkfV
— Russell M. Nelson (@NelsonRussellM) June 8, 2020
They expressed sorrow over the “senseless, heinous act of violence” that killed George Floyd, when an officer from the Minneapolis Police Department pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds.
They also talked about protests that have erupted into violence in dozens of cities across the United States.
“We likewise look on with sadness at the anger, hate, contempt and violence spilling onto America’s streets, devastating cities across the nation, and creating fear and anxiety in citizens across this great land,” the statement read.
They invited all people to, “join us in a journey of understanding and overcoming.”
“Unitedly we declare that the answers to racism, prejudice, discrimination and hate will not come from government or law enforcement alone,” they wrote. “Solutions will come as we open our hearts to those whose lives are different than our own, as we work to build bonds of genuine friendship, and as we see each other as the brothers and sisters we are — for we are all children of a loving God. … Oneness is not sameness in America. We must all learn to value the differences.”
Read the full statement on Medium.
