As former active members of Charlotte SURJ (Showing Up For Racial Justice), we are disbanding this chapter. We are calling for the disbandment of national SURJ and for the redistribution of the energy of white people into Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color- led groups and endeavors for true racial justice and collective liberation.

The end of white supremacy will not come from a room of white people talking to each other about racism. We need to take action, and now. As the advent of a Trump presidency is certain, we have an imperative responsibility now more than ever before to rise against the fascist tide of Trump, his terrorist supporters, and liberal Trump apologists. We must do this as part of a multi-national, multi-racial, multi-gender force to fight white supremacy, colonialism, racism, capitalism, xenophobia, homophobia, transmisogyny, misogyny, ableism, classism, all other systems of oppression. We demand full liberation of all oppressed people.

White supremacy comes in many forms and will deceive us at every turn. We must never forget our legacy of violence and the historical context white groups have held in upholding white supremacy. We must remain ever critical of the ways our whiteness manifests. By organizing white folks in a silo we perpetuate racist ideologies and actions. We reject the neoliberal fad that ‘tough conversations’ alone will break down this oppressive system that kills people of color daily.

Our disbandment is rooted in calls from Black leadership. We are committed to dismantling white supremacist cis-heteropatriarchy and in building with people of color, following Black and Brown leadership, particularly the leadership of queer, trans, and gender nonconforming people of color.

We implore white people to become a part of the Movement for Black Lives by joining and investing in multi-national, multi-racial, and multi-gender groups led by trans and queer people of color. In Charlotte, we recommend connecting with groups like Charlotte Uprising and TQPOCC.

We will be deleting the SURJ Charlotte Facebook page shortly.

The work continues, as does our commitment to smashing white supremacy and transforming ourselves in the process. Solidarity.