On June 1, 2020, Reginald L. Robinson, president and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation, released the following statement regarding the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn, on May 25, 2020:

“At critical moments, powerful flashpoints shine a stark, unforgiving, and incendiary light that brings focus to change we must produce, injustice we must redress, and systems we must fundamentally reform. The tragic killing of George Floyd constitutes such a flashpoint, laying bare the racial disparities that operate within our criminal justice system. Unfortunately, that system is not alone. COVID-19 has put an ugly spotlight on how those same racial disparities permeate our health systems and produce stunningly inequitable health outcomes.

These inequities are reflected in too many of our systems and institutions. Our state is not immune. Powerful flashpoints like those shocking us today, compel us all to redouble our work in communities across Kansas. We must confront and address the racism, brutality, and disregard that cut unmistakably across all of the domains – justice, health, education, work – that touch our lives and profoundly affect the quality of those lives. Our commitment to the health of all Kansans requires that we pursue this work with vigor, and compels us to affirm that Black Lives Matter.”

###