Charlottesville

Dear CSJ community,

I want to share with you how we’re working to respond to the recent events in Charlottesville. The CSJ board is working on an official statement as well as a online meeting for those interested in developing ways to respond. We have also created a folder within ACA Connect where I invite you to post resources, personal reflections, or anything else that you’d like to share with our community. To access the folder, log into ACA Connect, go to the CSJ Community page, click on the Library tab, select the “Charlottesville and Related Resources” folder, and upload documents using the “New” button on the left under Folder Contents.

Many of us were likely not entirely surprised by the events Charlottesville, since we are under no the illusion that white supremacy, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and more aren’t common in our country. I am, however, sad and angry and scared, as I am almost every day when I hear about some new, terrible hate crime, violent act, or bigoted rhetoric or policy. And I’m relatively safe as a straight white cis woman. I hope that this wakes more people up and that people of conscience work together for justice and against bigotry — both the overt forms we are seeing as well as the more subtle and insidious forms of bigotry. I hope we work in solidarity with all groups targeted — people of color, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, women, the LGBTQ community, and more. I hope we are outraged and that it spurs us to action. I had the opportunity to join some of the protests in Washington, DC this weekend, and being in community with those on the side of justice was energizing and heartening. I hope we will speak up when and where we can, because, in the words of Audre Lorde, “Your silence will not protect you.”

Thank you for being part of our community. Please reach out if you would like to be part of our efforts.

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Rachael D. Goodman, PhD, LPC
President (2017-2018), Counselors for Social Justice, a division of the American Counseling Association
Associate Professor, George Mason University
email: rgoodma2@gmu.edu