The recent killing of George Floyd highlights the profoundly destructive cycles of racial hatred and violence against black people and members of other minority groups and the resulting trauma and continued structural injustice that still exists in society. In this moment, when we are all experiencing a sense of vulnerability and helplessness, we respectfully wish to make the words of the Minnesota Psychoanalytic Society and Institute our own:
“We are heartbroken and grieve the murder of George Floyd. We stand against racial injustice and will work to better understand how we as individuals and an analytic community can be allies in the fight against racial injustice.”
The British Psychoanalytical Society wishes to acknowledge particularly the impact of such violence on our members and patients who identify as black people and the echo that this brings to others who have also experienced discrimination.