Eliminating Racism Through Racial Justice
YWCA’s approach to racial justice goes beyond changing hearts and minds. We strive to transform communities, systems, and public policy. Most recently, we have been focused on addressing racial profiling and police violence as they impact women and girls of color. Past issue priorities have included hate crimes, immigration reform, voting rights, and fair housing.
YWCA of Palm Beach County has long since had the courage to lead the fight against racism and to promote racial justice.
YWCA of Palm Beach County also supports measures at the national, state, and local levels to advance and ensure human rights for women and girls around the world. YWCA of Palm Beach County supports international efforts to eliminate racism as well such as the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a comprehensive, international agreement on eliminating discrimination against women in every sphere -- economic, political, and social.
We know that in order to lead the charge against racism, we must also set the example within our own organization. African American, Hispanic, Caribbean and multiracial women have been providing leadership in YWCA’s of Palm Beach County since 1917, and because of the leadership of women of color, in 1946 YWCA began working for integration throughout the entire organization, adopting an "interracial charter" that established that "wherever there is injustice on the basis of race, whether in the community, the nation, or the world, our protest must be clear and our labor for its removal, vigorous, and steady." That work culminated in the addition of the "elimination of racism" to our mission statement in 1970.