🔒A letter from WBJ: Picking up the fight against institutional racism

The killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, filmed for us all to witness, was truly horrific. The nation, and for that matter the world, has borne witness to the senselessness of his death, and responded with a call to action unlike any time in the past. 

As members of our black community know all too well, Floyd’s killing is far from a unique occurrence. People of color have been mistreated and murdered since slavery first took root in America more than 400 years ago - well before our nation was born. The video of Floyd’s death, when added to those who came before, and after him, provide indisputable evidence of injustice to those who have been giving the issue lip service, or looking the other way. The issue has forced those of us in a position of privilege, who would rather not think about or confront such uncomfortable issues, to examine who we are as people and a society. 

While talent and potential are dispersed equally throughout our population, opportunity is not. In order for our economy and our society to function at its highest level, we need to provide equal opportunity and just treatment to every one of our citizens. Only after we maximize the talent in our community can we become greater than the sum of our parts.

Clearly, this is not happening.

What Floyd’s killing and the ensuing global Black Lives Matter protests bring into stark reality is our black and other communities of color are suffering not only from a strong racial bias from our law enforcement, but from other institutions as old as the country itself. History makes it crystal clear these recent events are not isolated incidents, but are indicative of larger systemic issues needing to be addressed now, not sometime down the road. Now. 

As a media organization, we are committed to remaining open to all opinions and unbiased in our coverage of the issues impacting our Central Massachusetts business community. We hold certain values to be true, which inform our decision-making processes in our news coverage. Some of them, simply, are: A growing economy is good, low unemployment also is good, and equal opportunity must be given to all, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. Just look at our children: Racism and prejudice are learned, not innate to our society. It's not a short road to eliminate them, but it’s a battle we must all undertake with renewed vigor. 

Much of our society has woken up to the spirit of the Black Lives Matter protests and now is demanding justice, while others may not be there yet. We encourage and value respectful discourse between thoughtful individuals. Yet, much of the discourse around Black Lives Matter is not thoughtful or respectful. Phrases like “All Lives Matter” or “Blue Lives Matter” ignore the principles at the heart of this discussion. It is possible to be opposed to police brutality and not be opposed to the police, just like you can support doctors without supporting medical malpractice. Police have a difficult job to do, but the blind acceptance of brutality as part of that job is counterintuitive to who we aspire to be as a community. We can no longer remain blind to the issue, and any system that has institutionalized the protection of bad actors needs to be reformed.

We cover a diverse community, especially in Worcester and the other larger communities in Central Massachusetts. We have been aware of the need for diversity of gender, race and ethnicity in WBJ’s coverage, and will strive even more to include as many voices and diverse backgrounds in our stories as possible. Yet, in our reporting, we’ve rarely sought to address the issues specifically impacting one ethnic group or another. This will change. The heavy coverage in our June 22 edition of the problems in our black business community is not just a one-off, but the beginning of a new area of coverage for us. Our readers will get the same great coverage of health care, real estate, manufacturing, higher education and other core Central Massachusetts industries – as well as the business community as a whole – but our coverage of diversity and inclusion issues will grow.

– Peter Stanton & Brad Kane, publisher & editor