MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Hello St. Alphonsus Community,
This week I have been struggling to process the events that are unfolding in our country. The violence and destruction hopefully did not overshadow the message of justice for George Floyd and others suffering injustice and racism with their lives. I watched several groups peacefully protest over several days saying the same words we have heard too many times. It is shameful that in 2020 we are still asking for equal rights; still pleading for freedoms, for inclusion, for life.
As a Catholic, I spent the past week praying. I pray for change. I pray for love. I pray for safety and wisdom for all involved in the protests. I also pray for true inclusion and peace. I ask each of you to join us in prayer on social media and through morning announcements with our students, as we can pray together for our community, our country, and our world. May God bring healing through an equitable tomorrow.
This week, our teachers have been working with our students, presenting lessons, having discussions, and assigning projects that involve topics of social justice, inclusion, and anti-racism. Our library has also been a fantastic resource for diverse characters and stories, fiction and non-fiction, which students and teachers have used to address these topics all year. Feel free to reach out to our librarian at [email protected] for recommendations.
Below is a statement by Archbishop Etienne. His words resonated with me and I hope they help guide all of us.
Thank you,
Kathleen Daspit
Principal
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Statement from Archbishop Etienne
May 29, 2020 –
The Catholic bishops of the United States recently issued a pastoral letter against racism entitled Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love. In this instruction, we call for a conversion of hearts, minds, and institutions to address the evils of racism that still exist in our country and communities. As we wrote in the letter:
Racism occurs because a person ignores the fundamental truth that, because all humans share a common origin, they are all brothers and sisters, all equally made in the image of God. When this truth is ignored, the consequence is prejudice and fear of the other, and—all too often—hatred.
The killing of George Floyd in Minnesota on Monday, May 25, was very traumatic and appalling. I wish to acknowledge the anger, pain, and sadness this and other encounters between police officers and black men evoke not only in Minnesota, but throughout the country and in our own faith family as well.
These deaths are tragic, and they expose the asymptomatic and deep-seated connections between institutional racism and the continued erosion of the sanctity of life. If we do not respond appropriately as a society, we will be tacitly acquiescing to the ongoing killing of unarmed black men.
The senseless taking of life defies the fundamental principles of justice, every notion of dignity, and the fact that all of our lives are connected. As human beings, we are responsible for each other.
As Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said in her May 27 statement to the SPD, “policing is an honorable profession filled with honorable public servants, committed to protecting life and serving the community.” Chief Best also told her officers that if they see a coworker doing something that is unsafe, out of policy, unacceptable and illegal, they need to act, and that if someone’s life is unnecessarily in danger, it is their responsibility to intervene.
As Catholics, we are called to the same standards of behavior. We cannot stand by and not respond to incidents of racism and inhuman treatment of our black brothers and sisters, or anyone else.
Whether citizens or officers of the law, we are all part of a community that is responsible to care for each other. Our time-honored Catholic social teaching about the common good demands no less of any of us.
The fact that we were created in the image of God teaches us that each person is a living expression of God who must be respected and preserved and never dishonored. Let us continue to pray and work together for the personal and societal conversions necessary to address the evils of racism.
