Our community has been shaken by the racist killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and so many others. We mourn these needless deaths and condemn police brutality. We recognize the pain, fear and trauma that people of color in our community, especially our black students, faculty members and staff, are experiencing. We are with you.
To the Cardozo Community,
Our community has been shaken by the racist killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and so many others. We mourn these needless deaths and condemn police brutality. We recognize the pain, fear and trauma that people of color in our community, especially our black students, faculty members and staff, are experiencing. We are with you.
I call on the Cardozo community to stand as one to condemn racism and reaffirm our commitment to the paramount value of equality under the law for all. At Cardozo, we are proud of our past leadership on social justice issues; freeing the wrongly incarcerated, advocating for reforms of the criminal justice and immigration systems, and using the lessons learned from the Holocaust to protect and advocate for victims of genocide.
We have so much more work to do. We must use our power as lawyers to speak up when others are silenced. Those of us with white privilege must examine how we can better stand in solidarity with communities of color and the disenfranchised. We must pledge to consider our own subconscious biases and work to acknowledge the ways in which our silence perpetuates systems that place extraordinary burdens on people of color. We must raise our voices in defense of those who are victimized by racism, anti-Semitism and prejudice of any kind.
To those of you who are hurting: our Offices of Student Services and Diversity and Inclusion are standing by to offer support. Please do not hesitate to reach out if we can assist you.
Sincerely,
Dean Melanie Leslie