President Sonja Martin Poole’s Remarks on Racial Injustice and Recent Events

USFFA Policy Board Meeting, June 3rd, 2020

This is a painful time for our country and for our community. The social unrest going on around all of us is distressing and weighing heavily on us, our families, and our students. 

 Like so many of you, I continue to be heartbroken and angered by the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others, and by the deep pain and division we are seeing so vividly every day. 

These senseless deaths reflect the deeply ingrained racial prejudice and injustice that still exists in our communities today. 

It is stirring many emotions — which it should. The unnecessary and unjust killing of anyone is unacceptable. The issue of race and the experiences of people of color cannot be ignored. We cannot ignore that we exist in an inherently racist and unjust system. My hope is that we become more keenly aware that there is more than one pandemic affecting U.S. lives. We are also living in a racism pandemic. 

Being mindful of all of this, let’s hold each other up during this difficult time.