Letter to the Editor: Every person has inherent worth and dignity

(The Northeast Iowa Unitarian Universalist Board of Trustees (Annastacia Cowles, James McIntosh, Mike Vermace, Cara Langston and William Pardee) have submitted the following Letter the to Editor):

"The first principle of Unitarian Universalism is the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The second principle is justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

Unfortunately, over our American history our society has failed at times to live up to these principles in its treatment of Native Americans, women, and minorities. Especially grievously, we have a history of slavery, of widespread lynching to suppress blacks following the Civil War, and of segregationist discrimination and absurdly unfair and uneven literacy tests for voting. We still have efforts to suppress black votes through gerrymandering and discriminatory voter ID laws, and we have a tendency to exempt the killing of blacks from the law when it's done by a police officer.

We are not anti-police; we respect and appreciate the role of law enforcement in protecting our society. But we respect and appreciate the courageous efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement to build a community consensus for fair treatment of people of color."