CA-NV AWWA Statement on the Death of George Floyd

Dear CA-NV Member,

Over the last two weeks, protests across the country have been raging after George Floyd, an African American man, died as a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Mr. Floyd was clearly not treated with the respect and dignity due every person. His death is yet another senseless loss of life – one that reflects deeply engrained, long-standing injustice and division within our society. The protestors –representing a wide range of communities, age groups, races and socioeconomic status - are sad, angry and hurting.  The events of the past weeks have cleaved a wound in our country's sense of itself—a wound that will only heal when racism and prejudice are stamped out in all of their ugly forms. 

There is no place in our world for hatred, racism and discrimination.  We want to encourage us all to join together to confront the issues and speak out against injustice. CA-NV AWWA is committed to public health, safety and welfare; these core principles extend beyond just drinking water and to the health and wellbeing of our members, your families and loved ones.  As leaders, we promise to continue doing all that we can within our membership and activities to challenge and change systems of inequity that perpetuate racism and bias as we advance our mission.  As an organization that prides itself on positively impacting the communities we serve, we have a duty to speak up and engage the world around us.  Race and discrimination are uncomfortable topics and yet we all must step outside of our comfort zones to listen to each other’s perspectives and support each other, especially during this turbulent time. Hopefully, our dialogue can spark understanding and begin to create the type of environment and change we want to see in the world, heal division, and better reflect the communities we serve.

Thank you for listening. This is only the start of an ongoing and necessary dialogue. Please continue to stay safe and let’s all continue to take care of each other.

Sincerely yours,

Andrew DeGraca
Section Chair
adegraca@sfwater.org

Sue Mosburg
Executive Director
smosburg@ca-nv-awwa.org