Jimmy Carter's charity urges painful but necessary reflection after Rayshard Brooks death in Atlanta

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On Tuesday, Former President Jimmy Carter's charity said, America must come to grips with its long history of systemic racism in a forceful statement following the fatal shooting last week of a black man by an Atlanta police officer and weeks of protests against racial injustice and police brutality across the nation. The Atlanta based Carter Center said in a released statement, the death of yet another African American man Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police in Atlanta last week once again emphasizes that America must come to grips with its long history of systemic racism and ensure full respect for and protection of the human rights of all as established in our Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights The statement comes after Brooks, 27 was shot dead by an officer at a Wendy's drive thru in Atlanta after police moved to handcuff him for suspected driving under the influence according to videos from the scene. The incident followed weeks of national protests demanding an end to systemic racism and police reforms following the recent deaths of George Floyd Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

The Carter center said, throughout our nation's history excessive use of force against African Americans by police and others has continued with impunity. In our own city and state recent killings and the failure of the state to prosecute perpetrators of anti-Black violence have shocked the nation and caused special grief to Georgians already reeling from the killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the painful recognition that racially motivated attacks are commonplace in the U.S. According to the statement, While Black Americans have lived this reality for hundreds of years many other Americans are only just confronting this painful violence due to video evidence that brutally lays bare the injustices that have long been present and now is the time for deep and sometimes painful but necessary reflection followed by concerted action.

Carter said, in a statement following Floyd's death last month that silence can be as deadly as violence and called on Americans in positions of power, privilege, and moral conscience to fight racial discrimination. He said, People of power, privilege, and moral conscience must stand up and say no more to a racially discriminatory police and justice system immoral economic disparities between whites and blacks and government actions that undermine our unified democracy. We are responsible for creating a world of peace and equality for ourselves and future generations. We need a government as good as its people and we are better than this. The Carter Center said, Tuesday as an international organization based in the United States, we lament that true equality has not been achieved in our country. As we work in solidarity with local and national partners, we will continue to seek their wisdom to ensure that all of our programs