Inequality in America has re-emerged as a headline story in American life with the guilty verdict for a policeman who killed George Floyd last May 25, 2020. That death aroused rage in many parts of America because of the frequency with which people who are Black are killed by law enforcement in the United States. Elgin was, unfortunately, not immune from this anger, as it reminded people of the death by police hands of Decynthia Clements in 2018.
The death of George Floyd and other African Americans (in Minnesota, in Illinois, in Ohio…) by law enforcement were not the only acts of violence to shake the nation this month. A man with a semi-automatic rifle entered a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis and killed eight people, four of whom were Sikhs. Sikhs are members of a religion from India and Pakistan who are often mistaken for Muslims, or simply perceived as different from white Americans who are lashing out at self-perceived enemies.
How should Food For Greater Elgin respond? These are our neighbors: volunteers and donors, guests and next-door neighbors. Is it enough that while the “admission requirement” for food from us is simply that you are hungry and need food, when most of the people whom we serve are people of color? In June, 2020, we took this a step further when the Board of Directors voted:
“The mission of Food For Greater Elgin is to reverse the food insecurity that plagues so many people’s lives. Foundationally, the issue is the inability to provide food for your family, either from a short-term problem or ongoing poverty.”
But poverty, at least, is not color-blind. Many people of non-white races find themselves denied opportunities and the benefits of our society because they are not white. Therefore, Food For Greater Elgin recognizes and affirms that we respect and exist to serve all who need our assistance.
People who are poor matter; Black and Latinx lives matter; people who are faced with a critical short-term financial crisis matter. We exist to provide food and hope to people in need, regardless of race, color, national origin, documentation status, gender identity, age, disabilities, religious or ethnic background, and pledge ourselves to respond to their lives with all of the resources that we can bring to bear.
In April, 2021, after the Indianapolis shooting and Minneapolis verdict, I wrote for FFGE:
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” wrote the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in 1968. We continue down that long road in our practices of compassion and empowerment and the delivery of food to people in need, especially our neighbors who are of racial-ethnic minorities: African-American, LatinX, Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Asian and more. The road is long, our work remains but the end is sure.
In the attempt to encompass the range of violence amidst us, this statement was of necessity abstract—but this abstraction may have erased the particular people whose lives were violated and ended. That is, in my understanding, one of the foundational perceptions of the Black Lives Matter movement. While we all know that everyone’s lives matter, the deaths of people who are Black is understood, accepted, as part of life. Abstracting the issue to cover a broader range of violence is experienced as more of the same: erasing the lives of those who have been killed.
So what should we do? I spoke with FFGE Board member Corey Dixon about this, and he said:
“Food For Greater Elgin must be intentional in our support of social justice issues, but also be particularly and more explicitly supportive of the clients we serve as an organization; being the majority of those who come from LatinX and Black ethnic groups and communities.
As an organization whose focus is food, we also value the entire human experience, and we recognize the policing injustices that plague the Black community and other communities of color. FFGE provides a social net for those battling an assortment of food insecurities, regardless of what their racial or religious background is, and with that, we recognize the disparities between the majority that we serve vs. those who rarely come through our doors. We affirm that there’s a plethora of systemic issues that contribute to the racial disparity gaps and hate towards our LGBTQ+ communities, which without doubt plague our country. We recognize the intersectionality between these issues and groups that we serve and it is our hope and mission to help eliminate these gaps by providing quality food to those who need it most, which simultaneously provides the fuel needed in the fight for equal rights and civil liberties. We recognize that providing the basic essentials of food is only part of the battle, and we look to partner with or support other organizations who are more actively battling the gaps in education, health care outcomes, income-inequality, criminal justice reform, etc.
The work is vast, the work is hard, but we at FFGE take comfort in knowing that we’re providing a great service to the community. That no matter where people are from, no matter the color of their skin, where they decide to worship, the community they belong to, or because of other attributes associated with them, they deserve our holistic support & service. We pursue these things on the behalf of and alongside those we serve, because we know that all lives don’t matter until Black Lives Matter as well.”
The issue before us is not about people and places far removed from ourselves. The issue is about how we will address the divisions that exist in our country, our communities, and our lives. Thank you for being a part of the solution.
Dr. Michael H. Montgomery
Executive Director