LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In an effort to put their pleas to paper, thousands of white women are calling on Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer to listen to Black women. The letter, now signed by more than 2,700 women from around the country, tells Fischer to fire the officers involved in Breonna Taylor's death.
"We need to show up, we need to stand up, we need to speak out and stand with Black women," said Carla F. Wallace, the co-founder of Showing Up for Racial Justice and one of the letter organizers. "It's about getting more white women in this case to say I do care about what's happening, and I want the mayor to do something about it, and we need him to listen to Black women who are some of the most impacted when it comes to the Breonna Taylor case."
It's not just women in Louisville. Wallace said Fischer's title as head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors means he has to answer to the country.
"That means he has a national audience and that he needs to be accountable," Wallace said.
Over 400 Louisville Metro women joined over 2300 others to sign the letter that says, "The silence of the majority of white people, including white women, on the issue of racial injustice, allows race based inequity and violence to continue with devastating consequences...as white women, we refuse to be silent. Mayor Fischer we are calling on you to listen to Black women."
"One of the biggest barriers to racial justice is white silence," Wallace said.
People have been protesting for more than 100 days in Louisville and the letter is just one additional part of multi-layered protest efforts.
"It is a form of action to put your name on a letter. It's not enough but it's an important step," Wallace said. "It's critical to be in the streets but it's also important to put a black lives matter sign in your yard."
Thousands of names are printed at the bottom of this letter, below two sentences that read, "No matter what you do next, our city cannot move forward with moral integrity and faith in a better future without the firing of the officers involved in Breonna's death. There is no leaping over Breonna Taylor's body to the broader changes you and we know are necessary."
"Without firing those police, it leaves this huge wound in the community that is not going to be healed anytime soon," Wallace said.
The full letter can be read below:
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