RAFI-USA stands against racism, police brutality, racist vigilante violence, and state violence. We mourn the unjust murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless other black people, indigenous people, and people of color. As an agricultural advocacy organization, we recognize that the food and farming system in the U.S. was and continues to be based on the exploitation of marginalized people. We recognize that using racial violence to enforce power arrangements that benefit white people is written into the history of our agricultural system. This history comprises a looting far more comprehensive, violent, and long-lasting than anything we could see in this week’s protests. We recognize that this exploitation does not end in the fields, but is present throughout all sectors of our society.
As we strive to be an anti-racist organization, RAFI-USA is committed to continuing our work for justice, to listening to those who are most impacted by oppressive systems, and to building a world where everyone is respected, protected, and valued by society – not for what labor or benefit they can offer to build profits, but for their intrinsic worth as human beings.
Between the current pandemic and the recent protests erupting across the country over police violence and brutality, America is in a crisis. However, crises can offer us opportunities to unite around our shared values so that we can see in our suffering the roots of our humanity to work together and heal. May we all commit ourselves to listening, educating ourselves, taking action, and speaking up.
In Solidarity,
The RAFI-USA Board & Staff
