Page 21 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2021

Immediately after watching this incomprehensible act of violence, we experienced profound outrage, and tears filled the eyes of many Americans and people across the globe. Many of us felt a profound sense of sadness and despair for Mr. Floyd and his family. Others, and particularly members of the African American Community, in- cluding ourselves, felt paralyzed, hope- less and heartbroken for yet another unnecessary loss of life at the hands of someone sworn to protect. Instead of feeling like overcomers, we felt de- feated. The video of Mr. Floyd’s death is not the first to show a life taken at the hands of a police officer and, as time has shown, not the last. Because we were in the midst of a national pan- demic caused by the novel coronavirus that was disproportionately killing African Americans, the country was at a standstill and Americans bore wit- ness to the senselessness and brutality of Mr. Floyd’s murder.
The coronavirus pandemic caused the nation to slow down, and ampli- fied the immense pain felt by many who witnessed the unjust killing of Mr. Floyd. It also revealed that the virus was not the only pandemic plaguing our country. In fact, ram- pant racism was another pandemic we needed to fight.
As African Americans, we em- braced the grim reality that Mr. Floyd could have been our husband, son, brother, cousin, nephew or any other African American man we hold dear to our hearts. This reality made George Floyd’s death even more devastating, as we understood that killings like Mr. Floyd’s were not new, but are now recorded, posted and shared for millions to see.
A Call to Action
After processing the trauma, we realized that if we were feeling this way, fellow African American Family Court colleagues likely felt the same. The question remained: How could or should a judiciary react to instances of injustice and civil unrest that greatly impact the community we serve? After conferring with each other, we decid- ed that something had to change. As Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall once instructed, “[w]here you see wrong or inequality or injus- tice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.”
After meeting with several hearing officers, including Chief Judge New- ell, it was clear that Delaware’s Family Court would stand with other courts around the country to denounce rac- ism and be the change we want to see. On June 11, 2020, Chief Judge Newell and the judicial officers, along with the administrative team, issued the Family Court’s Statement of Unity, which was distributed to all Family Court em-
ployees. The statement reads, in part: “[W]e, the Judges, Com- missioners and Administration, write you about our unified purpose to state that we, as in- dividuals and collectively, are against racism. The mistreat- ment and murder of black and brown human beings is some- thing that we must renounce absolutely. But we must do more than renounce it, we must be- gin conversations to bring about change . . . Our first order of business is to acknowledge that racism still exists and that we are
all committed to change.”
In addition to acknowledging
the pain experienced by many Fam- ily Court employees within the State- ment of Unity, Chief Judge Newell announced the creation of the Fam- ily Court Council on Racial Equity (CORE), to be chaired by Judges Arlene Minus Coppadge and Natalie J. Haskins. CORE consists of members from the Family Court’s security unit, mediation, case processing, administra- tive team, and judicial officers state- wide.
On July 28, 2020, CORE held its inaugural meeting, and it has contin- ued to meet monthly since July. In the short time since CORE’s inception, the members have developed a mission statement and goals, and administered a court-wide anonymous survey to determine the issues that matter most to our employees.
COR E’s mission statement reads as follows:
The Family Court Council on Racial Equity’s mission is to elimi- nate systemic and institutional racism that serves as a barrier to accessing and achieving justice for litigants of color, and to pro- mote a supportive and inclusive environment for employees that
WINTER 2021 DELAWARE LAWYER 19
SAQUAN STIMPSON