MeBIC stands with those expressing their anger and pain at the inequities built into our society through institutionalized and systemic racism and discrimination. Racial justice and immigrant justice in the U.S. are inextricably intertwined. MeBIC strives for fair and just laws and policies affecting the immigrants who are integral members of Maine’s communities and economy. That work includes, and must include, striving for fairness and justice for all.
There can be no turning away from the disparate economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color and immigrants, including in Maine, nor from the recent videos calling upon all of us to witness only a few in the long line of aggressions and brazen murders of African Americans. These facts have laid unmistakably bare what people of color in the U.S., including immigrants, have long experienced – that power, due process, economic justice, health, and regard for life itself are not shared equitably in this nation, and have never been.
The future health of our democracy and of our national moral and economic core demands that those in or with power, whether due to their white race or their socio-economic clout, actively work to see the inequities and eliminate them.
Maine’s business community and economic leaders have power. MeBIC welcomes the opportunity to work with its business and economic partners to deploy that power to take on the somber and urgent challenge to speak out and act to dismantle racism, xenophobia, and bigotry, to build a society which values and benefits all.