In the wake of the death of George Floyd, we have been angry, disappointed, and saddened by the continued injustices against the Black community across the country. At a time of increasing economic struggles due to COVID-19, these events have brought forward a clear picture of the racism, discrimination and racially motivated violence that permeates the very institutions of our country. We cannot stay silent.
Habitat for Humanity holds to a vision of a world where we share one humanity. What many in our local community may not know is that Habitat for Humanity was conceived on a farm in South Georgia on the theory of radical inclusivity, at a time when inclusivity was seen by many as a threat.
Historic discrimination in U.S. housing policy – particularly discrimination against Black Americans—is one of the leading drivers of racial inequities that persist today. Organizations like Habitat that work on housing must understand that history, and it must inform our work moving forward.
In keeping with our founding, the HFHCL Board of Directors and staff recommits to our vision by actively working on equity and inclusion. We commit to listening and learning, to engaging our organization in learning about white privilege, to assessing and fixing the structures we have built to serve our community to ensure we are serving all people in our community.
To that end, we have joined with Habitat for Humanity International to promote the Cost of Home campaign, which specifically states, “Advocates and policymakers must acknowledge and address the well-documented patterns of racial discrimination in housing and land use policies—at all levels of government—that still impact the makeup and opportunities of our communities.”
Habitat for Humanity of Central Lane, our board and our staff understand that addressing systemic racism is paramount to meeting our mission of bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope.