New York, NY, June 1, 2020 — The International Rescue Committee has long argued that America’s promise to offer sanctuary for those fleeing persecution is a gift and a responsibility from its history. We also know, however, that America’s history of slavery, and ongoing racial segregation and injustice, remain sources of great pain and anguish.
We, therefore, stand with a nation grieving over the loss of George Floyd and so many others. Continued police violence against people of color, and Black people in particular, is painful evidence that America’s promise of liberty and justice for all remains a vision rather than a reality.
IRC has long drawn strength from all of America’s races and religions. When we welcome refugees to America we live out a fundamental promise: that this is a community where equal treatment for all is an abiding ideal that binds the country together.
We vow today to work with all Americans to heal division by tackling injustice, to drive progress by confronting discrimination - including in our own workplace - and to build the nation by working together. This is part of our humanitarian commitment to fight racism and xenophobia in all its forms around the world.
The ties that bind the IRC and its mission with the fight for civil rights are longstanding. Today and every day, when Black people are grieving - including our own staff members - we grieve with them and stand with them for justice.