The Right Reverend Ian Douglas, Bishop Diocesan of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, and the Right Reverend Laura Ahrens, Bishop Suffragan, yesterday issued a statement in response to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, and other recent police-involved deaths of people of color. The bishops called on Connecticut Episcopalians to continue to speak up and work toward racial reconciliation and healing, even in the midst of the current global health crisis.

The entire statement is available here.

“Racism and the resulting violence against people of color perpetrated by those who have power in our nation and state has led recently to the tragic and inexcusable deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota, José Soto in Connecticut, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Such violence is unacceptable and contrary to the will of God and the promise of justice and freedom central to our country’s ideals. We must not let the realities of COVID-19 distract us from speaking out against, and working to dismantle, the forces of racism and white supremacy that continue to infect our lives and our nation. It is that very inaction and silence that feed into the legacy of white supremacy. Silence is complicity and we must not participate in the forces of evil that divide us.” – Bishop Douglas and Bishop Ahrens of the ECCT