By Nancy J. Newman, IANGEL Board President and Founder
The feeling is real. It turns your stomach, and prowls your mind. We are sick with injustice. In a Covid-19 world, two recent tragedies of racial and gender injustice have brought new urgency to the movement to fight systemic racism and discrimination. These events reinforce the importance of pursuing fundamental changes to meet this moment.
On May 25, 2020, in eight minutes and 46 seconds, a Minneapolis police officer took the life of George Floyd. This senseless violence at the knee of one sworn to protect the public has ignited a relentless new demand for racial justice around the world. The status quo will no longer be tolerated. Our younger people will not stand for it. And we in the older generation are right there with them, arm in virtual arm, rededicating ourselves to institutional change, and denouncing racism in every facet of society. For George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others, we grieve, and we embrace the new energy in this movement. It is the culmination of so much injustice, and the steadfast work of so many for so long. In the year 2020 we emphatically say, Black Lives Matter. Let this year of upheaval be the year we finally turn the corner on racial injustice.
On May 21, 2020, another tragedy occurred, wrought by insidious injustice against women and girls. On that day, the father of a 14-year old girl in Iran beheaded his daughter, Romina Ashrafi, as she slept. Angry that Romina was seeing an older man, her father reportedly first checked with a lawyer to confirm that killing Romina would not be punished as a serious crime. This is called an “honor killing,” motivated by a belief that the victim has brought shame to the family. These murders are often hidden or excused, as perpetrators are protected by entrenched legal and cultural barriers to accountability. On that day in May, Romina became one of an estimated 5,000 women and girls murdered each year by honor killings, according to the United Nations. Her death sparked outrage and new demands for reform of the laws that minimize such cruelty. On June 7, 2020, Iran passed “Romina’s law” to expand legal protections for children and juveniles, a small step. May our outrage continue to motivate changes in law and societies globally, to ensure that women and girls have equal rights to self-determination, and life.
It is hard to fathom the lack of humanity underlying the crimes against George Floyd and Romina Ashrafi. Both of their killers somehow grew into adults without essential empathy and understanding of those of a different hue or gender from themselves. To eliminate such crimes, we must uproot the biases that create such dangerous, incomplete adults. We must force the perpetrators to reckon with the impact of their crimes. Without education and understanding, we cannot restore justice.
With a global pandemic raging, racial tension and gender-based violence is increasing. Yet we also see communities rising up, and coming together, to reclaim the future. With sadness, anger, and determination, we must fight the virus and injustice at the same time. With systemic discrimination tearing at the fabric of our societies, now is the time to knit together a new world that rejects racism and sexism in all their forms. We must examine attitudes, denounce outdated assumptions, and advocate for concrete changes to laws, institutions, and practices to eradicate the racial and gender inequities that plague societies around the world. The work ahead is hard; it will require sustained energy and tireless effort. But for the unrest that ails us now, only justice is the cure.
