Statement on Jacksonville Mass Shooting and March on Washington 60th Anniversary

As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, it is especially disheartening that we also must grieve another racist mass shooting, this time in Jacksonville, Florida.

The individual responsible for Saturday’s heinous act stopped by the campus of Edward Waters University, a fellow HBCU, before tragically cutting short the lives of three innocent Americans at a nearby store. Although students and campus security acted swiftly in removing him from their campus, they were not able to prevent him from committing gun violence elsewhere. We must be clear that white supremacy has no place in our country, and we must do everything in our power to eliminate it and the racist rhetoric that fuels hate crimes from our society at once.

“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” Those words remain as true today as they did 60 years ago. It is my sincere hope that we continue our forward march towards true equality, and it all starts by amplifying each other’s humanity — and leading with love. I commend the Howard University students who made it a point to participate in Saturday’s observance, and I am hopeful that they and others in their generation will be the drum majors for justice and equality that will truly make this nation the United States of America.

Excellence in Truth and Service,

Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA
Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery
President