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June 2020
“SAY THEIR NAMES!”
Statement of Legal Services of New Jersey Concerning Government and Vigilante
Perpetrated Violence Against People of Color
Ms. Breonna Taylor of Kentucky. Mr. George Floyd of Minnesota. Mr. Ahmaud Arbery of Georgia. Mr. Tony McDade of Florida. Mr. James Scurlock of Nebraska. Mr. David McAtee of Kentucky. Murdered.
Among many oppressed cultures in America it is a sign of respect and honor to call people by their full given names, although some do not do so after passing. We do so to bear witness, respect, remember, remind, educate and ultimately press to terminate such violence and murders.
For 54 years Legal Services in New Jersey has worked to combat all forms of discrimination, be it base on skin color, ethnicity, gender and gender preference, disability, age or any other invidious ground, and to secure economic and social justice for all disadvantaged, oppressed and vulnerable people. This work is carried out by all Legal Services staff, every day, in every part of this state.
It is from this experience and on this record that LSNJ, the coordinating agency for the state’s Legal Services system, on behalf of that system condemns in the strongest possible terms the murders of those named above, and the thousands upon thousands, and from a multi-century perspective millions upon millions, of those who are black, brown, and every other hue of skin or personal characteristic that leads to people being targeted as “other”.
Our staff and volunteers will continue to attack every form of such discrimination and violence in their daily work, and in their private lives. As an organization we will reject and resist those voices that encourage, or condone, or apologize for, or seek to legitimize such activity. And we urge all New Jersey residents to observe, bear witness, and demand that such discrimination and violence end now, finally and forever. Say their names.
Melville D. Miller, Jr., President
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