Statement in Response to Charlottesville, VA

August 14, 2017
Auburn, AL
For Immediate Release

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Board of Trustees

We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Atrocities such as the acts of wanton domestic terrorism in Charlottesville, VA this weekend remind us of the fragility of a society which values silent complicity with oppression rather than active resistance to systemic injustice. Our nation has repeatedly ignored the cries of minority and marginalized communities for the sake of keeping the peace rather than directly treating the cancer of systemic and rampant prejudice metastasized throughout our society which threatens daily to destroy the lives of people of color, Jewish communities, Muslim communities, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and all others who fail to meet the arbitrary qualifications for being "acceptable members" of our society.

As a transgender woman living in the deep south, I can attest to the exhausting and demoralizing effect such vile toxicity has on a person's very core. I cannot help but admire the temerity of others with less privilege than myself in the face of such raw hatred. However, admiration is as worthless a response as silence. Action, is what is needed, and action is what we must take in response to the stench of Nazism which has stood brazenly in our town squares, our halls of government, and in our places of worship.

I will be the first to admit that my organization and I have been remiss in considering the needs of transgender folk who belong to ethnic minority groups. In the last few months, I have been very mindful of the inadvertent ways in which this lack of intentionality contributes to systemic racism. The last few days have caused me to call myself to account for them. In the next few months, my team and I will consider ways to be more intentional about the needs of ethnic minorities who identify (or who have a loved one who identifies) as transgender, queer, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, gender fluid, plus.

I encourage you and your families, your organizations and clubs, your businesses and offices to do the same. I encourage you to do everything in your power to resist the evil of prejudice, actively, and with courage. The reality is, if we do not act in resistance, this cancer will overtake our society and our friends and neighbors will suffer even more than they already do.

I implore you to make no peace with oppression. Fight it with every ounce of courage that you have.

In Solidarity,

Darcy J. Corbitt-Hall She/Her/Hers
President and CEO