Representing the Keyboard Trust Bristol and in his role as Chair of Churches Together in Greater Bristol/Together for Bristol, Baptist Minister Eric Aidoo has made the following statement this week, in response to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests in the United States and in Bristol where Eric lives and ministers.
Dear Friends and fellow residents of Bristol
Warm greetings to you all.
I am writing to indicate how appalled I am at the events of the horrific treatment of people from the black community in the United States by Law enforcement officers, that has led to the deaths of George Floyd and others. My deepest condolences to their families.
As Martin Luther King Jnr once reminded us “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The second paragraph of the US Declaration of Independence states that “we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,…“
It is obvious from what’s occurring in the States that this truth that “…all men are created equal..” is not self-evident to some. There must be a contrary belief system that informs and drives such inhumane behaviour. Perhaps the notion that holds one race superior and the other inferior.
These acts of racial harassment and injustice have been going on for quite a while, but we will dare to continue to keep the hope of improved race relations and community cohesion alive, as we dialogue and seek proactive ways to make the required structural adjustments and changes to the systemic racial and socio-economic injustices existing within our own context in order to create a better future for posterity.
The anti-racism protests seen in Bristol, across the country and in other parts of the world on 7th June 2020 bring home the truth eloquently expressed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice every where.” He added “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”
Edmund Burke also once noted “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (people) to do nothing“.
May we all strengthen our resolve to engage in conduct and activities that will be for the common good and the strengthening of community relations.
Thank you for your attention.
