Statement from LISC NYC Executive Director Valerie D. White

First, our hearts and sincere condolences are with the family of George Floyd. We mourn with you. Here in New York City, we watched as a handcuffed, unarmed Black man in Minneapolis lost his life because of his race. That this incident occurred in the middle of a pandemic that has already devastated so many families and communities only adds to the trauma. 

LISC NYC values safe streets and supports responsible law enforcement practices that promote community safety. However, New York City history is filled with examples of unlawful, excessive policing of people of color, including with lethal force. Police brutality has marked the lives of countless victims before this moment, including New Yorkers such as Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, and Eric Garner, to name a few. This history is intertwined with the realities of poverty; too many low-income New Yorkers struggle on a daily basis to access quality housing, schools, jobs, medical care, transportation, and social services. Under these tragic conditions, it is hardly surprising that the New York Times reports that the coronavirus is twice as deadly for Black and Latinx people in New York City than for Whites.

It is my hope that this dark hour in New York City’s history will spark three things: radical healing, inclusive economic transformation, and sustainable community wealth.

• Radical healing involves examining the underlying assumptions that perpetuate bias and bigotry. While they are often unconscious or unspoken, such assumptions can have profound and lasting impacts on those we encounter in our workplace, public spaces, and wider communities. As James Baldwin, a native Harlemite, famously said, “Nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
• Inclusive economic transformation requires a rigorous consideration of the needs of all New Yorkers for generations to come. LISC NYC embraces an inclusive economic development policy agenda that prioritizes targeted investments in public infrastructure, human talent, innovation, and diverse enterprises and community organizations.  
• Sustainable community wealth has been elusive for too long, notably in Black and Latinx New York communities. The history of New York City has shown that unchecked, short-term opportunism favors the few and leaves people of color behind. LISC NYC is committed to exploring and implementing models that support minority entrepreneurship, ownership, career ladders, and sustained wealth generation.

LISC NYC believes that these three principles must be backed by intention and strategy. As LISC CEO Maurice Jones has said:

“Intention created the racial wealth gap. It will take intention to close it.”

The time has come to forge a future for New York City that eradicates the racial wealth gap for good, protects access to housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers, and builds pathways of economic opportunity for those who are looking to us for practical solutions. We are eager to partner with groups that want to align with LISC NYC’s vision on the long road ahead.

The peaceful protesters in New York City have been calling on us to ask how we can serve as agents of justice and shared prosperity. Join LISC NYC in answering their call.

In Solidarity,

Valerie D. White
Executive Director
LISC NYC