The Executive Leadership Council is painfully aware of the historical impact on the black community of the separation of children from families since slavery. We are deeply disturbed about the recent actions along the southern U.S. border and fully support calls by our partners ranging from civil rights leaders to the Business Roundtable demanding reuniting children with their families. The executive order does not account for the thousands of children of color ranging from infants to teenagers who have already been separated from their parents. We are calling for our country’s legislators to demonstrate true bipartisan leadership in reforming the U.S. immigration system with empathy and compassion.

This past week, we also witnessed another killing of a young black male by law enforcement in Pittsburgh. While we do not know all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, we do know that this is a pattern.

While these two issues may seem unrelated, we see a connection in the underlying message which appears to be that the lives of young children of color are not valued in the same way as others in our country. Our nation has benefited greatly from its diversity and inclusion, and must continue to be a welcoming place that shows humanity. We cannot afford to do otherwise, without serious consequences for future generations and our standing.

The ELC’s mission is to increase the number of black CEO’s, C-Suite executives and Board members by building a pipeline of our next generation of black talent. Our efforts will continue to be challenged when our youth – who make up this pipeline – feel threatened by these misguided policies and actions by law enforcement that negatively impact our communities.