3.22.2019

A Letter to Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo

"An official visit by the Special Rapporteur on Racism to the United States during this timely season will give [Professor Achiume] an opportunity to gather information, meet with officials and civil society organizations and directly impacted communities, and offer an assessment and recommendations for effectively fighting the deeply rooted issues of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of xenophobia and bigotry in the United States."

"We are equally concerned about the rise of misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-immigrant sentiments which ave continued to escalate across the United States."

These are two portions of an important letter written to our Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, from a broad coalition of religious and civil rights organizations including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The letter invites Secretary Pompeo to extend an invitation to Professor E. Tendayi Achiume, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to gather and present information about trends related to racism and discrimination in this country.

I am prayerful that Secretary Pompeo and his team will respond to this letter and invite Professor Achiume to the table. Together, we can build a more just world. To do so, we must understand the depth of the problems at hand, hear from those most directly impacted and base our solutions on the recommendations of people like Professor Achiume whose perspectives are based on research, data and experience.

Holy Spirit, hear our prayers and grant us courage.

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