Thursday, May 28, 2020

Dear Friends,

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven is outraged by the killing of Mr. George Floyd, a subdued, handcuffed  African American man, pleading for help, was suffocated by a former Minneapolis police officer.

Our hearts break for Mr. Floyd’s family and friends. We also feel devastated for our friends and neighbors in the African-American community. Your pain is our pain.

At a time when African-Americans and other people of color are disproportionately losing their lives to COVID-19, Mr. Floyd’s killing reminds us that for far too long African-Americans have also been much more likely to die at the hands of the police.  

Mr. Floyd didn’t deserve to die. Jewish tradition teaches us that a loss of one person is a loss of an entire world. We mourn together for this horrible death. The struggle for justice and anti-discrimination should be a fight for all, it is a struggle over the foundational human commitments as citizens and as a society.

 

Betty and Arthur Levy, JCRC Co-Chairs

Judy Alperin, CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven

Eliraz Shifman Berman, JCRC Director