Racial Justice and SIL LEAD

A Statement from Executive Director Dr. Paul Frank:

Although the work of SIL LEAD focuses on speakers of minority languages all around the world, we care deeply about what is happening in the United States as well. The killing of George Floyd—and of so many others before him—horrifies us, provokes us, and challenges us. Those of us in SIL LEAD who are not people of color will never perfectly understand what others have experienced and suffered for far too long. But we stand in solidarity with black people and all people of color in the United States. We resonate with their call for justice. We empathize with their outrage over their seemingly endless mistreatment. 

While our work as an organization is focused on other countries, an article by Larry Madowo, a Kenyan journalist living in New York City, gave me a glimpse into how those two worlds intersect. His experience told him that “America may be the land of opportunity for many, but it would still reduce me to the color of my skin and find me unworthy.” 

I find myself wondering what would happen if some of the people we serve in other countries, or good friends and colleagues such as Susan, Kuchhat, and Béatrice, were to come to the United States? It breaks my heart to think that they, too, would be judged by the color of their skin and be deemed unworthy of respect and fair treatment. As the Apostle James wrote in the Bible, “Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!”

We long for a more just society. We pray that black people and indeed all people of color—in the United States, and in all the minority language communities that we serve around the world—will one day be able to live without fear, fully accepted for who they are; never again reduced, marginalized, or oppressed for the color of their skin.