Funders for LGBTQ Issues stands in solidarity with those who resisted the forces of white supremacy in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend — and with the countless individuals who everyday resist bigotry and prejudice.

We are grateful for all of the activists and community-based organizations that have been organizing in recent months in response to white nationalist efforts targeting Charlottesville. Our hearts go out to the families of those whose lives were taken and those who were injured.

We recognize that this is not an isolated incident, but rather this weekend’s violence represents a disturbing trend of increased activity on the part of emboldened white supremacists. We strongly condemn as factually flawed and morally bankrupt any ideology that imagines one human as superior to another on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, or any other identity.

Charlottesville’s decision to remove Confederate monuments, rename Lee Park as Emancipation Park, and make investments in communities of color as a way to address its history of systemic racism represented hopeful first steps towards addressing racial justice in this Southern city. Yet this progress had to contend with forces that are anti-Black, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, misogynist, homophobic, and anti-immigrant. We call for all philanthropic and government leaders to recognize the continuing impact of slavery, anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia, and to take proactive steps to address prejudice and inequity both within our own institutions and in the world.

Many members of the Funders for LGBTQ Issues network have been leading funders of LGBTQ communities of color and of racial justice in general. Through both our own programming and as a member of the CHANGE philanthropy coalition, we will redouble our efforts to bring more philanthropic resources to the difficult and crucial work of resisting white supremacy and advancing racial justice.