22222222ERA Coalition/FFWE Statement in the Wake of Targeted and Racist Gun Violence
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2022
Contact: cwest@eracoalition.org
Washington, DC – “The ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality stand in solidarity with the Asian-American and Black communities that have been so terribly impacted by gun violence this past weekend just trying to worship and go about their everyday life. Our hearts go out to the victims, survivors, and their families,” said Carol Jenkins, ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality President and CEO. “We know that communities of color are disproportionately affected by gun violence overall, and the targeting of African American and Asian-American people with gun violence is compounding a problem in communities that has only been escalating since the COVID-19 pandemic began. We MUST do better by these communities by supporting organizations that are specifically working to eradicate racist rhetoric and violence, and highlighting stories from the impacted groups.”
“We would like to lift up the names of the people who have been shot in the racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York, to ensure they are not lost in all of the political rhetoric:
- Aaron Salter, 55
- Ruth Whitfield, 86
- Pearly Young, 77
- Katherine Massey, 72
- Deacon Heyward Patterson, 67
- Celestine Chaney, 65
- Roberta A. Drury, 32
- Margus D. Morrison, 52
- Andre Mackneil, 53
- Geraldine Talley, 62
- (Injured) Zaire Goodman, 20
- (Injured) a 50-year-old from Tonawanda, New York
- (Injured) a 55-year-old from Lackawanna, New York
“Victims have not yet been publicly identified in the shooting at a Taiwanese church in Southern California, but our hearts are with all of those affected.”
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The ERA Coalition was founded in 2014 to bring concerted, organized action to the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA Coalition has a sister organization, the Fund for Women’s Equality, which promotes public education and outreach on the need for constitutional equality. Composed of more than 260 organizations across the country, the Coalition provides education and advocacy on Constitutional Equality.
While the effort to amend the constitution to include sex equality began nearly a century ago, our renewed efforts are centered on women of color (African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Latina, and Native American), gender-nonconforming and transgender women and girls, and nonbinary people – those who are most impacted by systemic inequities.