All of us at Carolina Fintech Hub are appalled by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery – three more senseless, avoidable killings in a country struggling to reconcile with its long history of oppressing black and brown Americans.
Almost three years ago, CFH embraced one of our city’s most longstanding challenges–upward mobility–which disproportionately afflicts our communities of color here in Charlotte. When we began addressing this issue by designing programs such as the Workforce Investment Network (WIN), Youth Technology Apprenticeship Camp (YTAC), and Fix50 Upward Mobility Hackathon, our mission was to provide real upward mobility to those in need, particularly for women and people of color. Thanks to the collective efforts of our community partners, we have succeeded in doing just that—providing our community in-need with financial resources, technological training, and meaningful careers with opportunities for advancement.
We want to send a different message today, though.
We realize our programs only treat the symptoms, not the disease itself. By the time candidates reach our doorstep, they have already struggled with systemic racism through wealth inequality, underfunded schools, and prejudiced encounters with the criminal justice system. There is still much work to be done with our black communities to build better lives for those who have been systematically oppressed by centuries of institutional racism.
While CFH will continue to be committed to creating vocational opportunities, improving economic outlooks, and demanding equality for the black community, we all realize that there is more to do. For America to live up to its aspiration as a multi-cultural land of opportunity, black lives and equality must be valued.
We are proud of the work we have done in partnership with communities of color here in Charlotte, we proudly stand alongside our neighbors in the fight for justice and equality, and we commit that CFH will continue to play its role in promoting the equality that our black neighbors so rightfully deserve.
We also make the commitment to work tirelessly going forward to expand our upward mobility and equity programming so more people in need across our community can be reached.
In parting, we realize that this is not the time to be silent and CFH will not be silent. #BlackLivesMatter
