04/21/2021
By Jacquie Moloney

Like untold numbers before him, George Floyd was taken from this world too early.

Today the families and friends of countless men and women of color like George Floyd continue to suffer from the losses of loved ones injured or killed by a justice system that delivers, too often, vastly unequal penalties or flatly unjust and horrific outcomes. Sometimes the only constant seems to be the pain, grief and anger of communities forever treated unequally only to then be condemned and slandered when they demand equal treatment.

Today we learned that Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged in Floyd’s murder, has been found guilty. That justice was served in this instance over the cause of George Floyd’s death does not mitigate or remedy the injustice inflicted upon him while he lived. He remains the victim of a police officer who valued his power more than the lives of the people he swore to protect.

It is tempting, when we feel like we are pushing back against an ocean of prejudice, ignorance and indifference, to throw up our hands. But the depths of these racial injustices will only be reversed by the gravitational pull of millions of individuals of all backgrounds demanding change.

At UMass Lowell, diversity and inclusion are central to our Strategic Plan. Across multiple committees we worked together to develop recommendations to transform our best intentions into actions. Our Council on Social Justice and Inclusion and the Task Forces and subcommittees that comprise it are working right now to implement these ideas so that we can turn these recommendations into actions, that can then become habits, and ultimately our culture.

In the midst of the pain so many are feeling today and on too many days, individual and community steps and actions can seem small compared with the size and scope of the changes we need to achieve. But just like pushing for change in our criminal justice system, pushing to end bigotry, hate and racism seems unreachable until it becomes inevitable.

It is when we add our efforts to those like-minded millions in every community across this country that we develop the critical mass needed to break with the systemic racism of our past and create a future where all are welcomed, treated with equity, dignity and respect and valued for their humanity.

Our UMass Lowell community will continue to lead in that direction.