THE ATTACK ON THE U.S. CAPITOL AND OUR DEMOCRACY

January 7, 2021

As an organization that has worked for its entire history to prevent and stop violence, we condemn the January 6th terrorist assault on the U.S. Capitol and the democracy it exemplifies. Each rioter and each elected official complicit in the assault, including the President of the United States, must be held accountable for the loss of life and for the trauma inflicted on our nation, and especially on our children, who watched it all. 

Our children, already suffering from the pandemic’s impacts on daily life and learning, seeing the economic harm to their families, and feeling the pain and worry of their caregivers, deserve comfort –and honest answers to their questions. They need to hear that what we all witnessed yesterday was tragic and in no way normal. And the assault was yet another example of the egregious racial disparities in our country that allowed and even enabled, a mob, to invade the U.S. Capitol.

This mob of white supremacists terrorized those inside and those watching, causing loss of life and property, desecrating historic spaces that are supposed to represent us all, and then being allowed to exit with near-impunity, even mugging for the cameras. We contrast the sickening images from yesterday’s assault, with the overwhelming force and violence inflicted by law enforcement on those demonstrating for racial justice in cities and communities all over the United States last year, most of them Black or brown and young. This is no coincidence.

We stand with everyone working to end structural racism and the intolerable harms caused by racial inequities in our justice, healthcare, education, economic, and other systems. This is at the core of our mission at FUTURES and we will always shine a light on such injustice.
 

With determination, Esta Soler Founder & President