Take Em Down Everywhere Mission Statement

 

Whereas, Western civilization was founded on genocidal warfare and the enslavement of human beings rooted in an ideology of white supremacy

 

Whereas, non-white people globally have labored for over 500 years under slavery and other inhumane, exploitative treatment, and crimes against humanity in the name of white supremacy,

 

Whereas, no significant steps towards reparations have been made towards any of the groups oppressed by white supremacist doctrine and its reflective policy

 

Whereas, symbols reflect systems and all of the oppressive systems that white supremacist symbols reflect continue to perpetuate themselves in all areas of human activity including social, educational, economic, legal, and political

 

Whereas, symbols that reflect the ideology of white supremacy number up to at least 1,500 in the United States alone (not to mention other countries around the globe) and no human being should have to be perpetually tortured with reminders of their oppressors and no oppressor should be venerated,

 

WE SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

 

In the name of all those murdered with no retribution much less commemoration by a system that will not stop itself,

 

In the name of the liberated future we claim on behalf of our ancestors, our children and the unborn—one free of racism, systemic inequity, and oppression,

 

We demand the removal of ALL symbols that reflect the ideology of white supremacy ALL around the world as a symbolic step towards racial justice.

 

We are Take Em Down Everywhere, a black-led, multiracial, international, intergenerational, inclusive coalition of organizers committed to the removal of ALL symbols of white supremacy from the public landscape as a part of the greater push for racial and economic justice and structural equity.

 

While our work is primarily anchored in the United States, we have allies around the world who work toward the removal of white supremacist symbols in their respective regions.

 

Our movement was inaugurated at the Take Em Down Everywhere Conference, March 22—24th, 2018 when organizers from movements in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Trinidad & Tobago convened in New Orleans to discuss like struggles, and conceptualize and strategize ways to unite those movements.

 

We are open to all grassroots organizers globally who have created or are seeking to create movements to remove white supremacist symbols from their local landscape as a much-needed part of the global push towards racial and economic justice.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Take Em Down Everywhere