Institute Statements
Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights & Justice
Statements on Headline News
Statement on Roe v. Wade Overturn Ruling
(Friday, June 24, 2022)
Today’s Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade is deeply disturbing to many communities. Roe v. Wade provided 49 years of protected access to safe abortions, which will now be an issue that returns to the voters and their elected representatives.
We understand that limited access to reproductive health will tremendously impact poor and vulnerable communities across the country, including some of the communities and families we serve.
We respect the community’s need for sober deliberation, respectful dialogue, and compassion as we face this new reality together. Our commitment remains unwavering. With a ‘Seriousness of Purpose’ about our students and the communities we serve, we hope to navigate challenges together and cultivate the next generation of attorneys to champion landmark Supreme Court cases that bring us closer to human and civil rights for all people, equally and equitably.
The Heavy Lift of Healing
(January 19, 2021)
Typically, the national anticipation of a new President and administration in our country would be a less complicated and more exciting time. Surely, there would be more celebration in anticipation of the first female, first HBCU graduate, and first woman of color to be Vice President in our history. But the violent attack on the Capitol has left us all trying to make sense of the deep divisions in our country.
A now fatigued nation must muster every ounce of itself during a time of unprecedented crisis in healthcare, the economy, and police involved shootings, to immediately begin the reparative work of reconciliation. It brings forth the painful truth that Reconstruction only physically rebuilt our war-torn country after the Civil War, but it never addressed the moral stain or the beliefs and hatred that became our customs and laws.
Episodes of violence, deceit in the practice of medicine, and the disparate response to protest, have made us confront difficult issues and face hard truths. While we are reminded that our United States are bound together by a fragile democracy and values that are routinely undermined by racial double standards, we are also reminded that our government has vested its power in the people, and we the people, have a duty to our country.
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