[FONT="]Members of Louisville's Black community are calling on Churchill Downs to cancel the 2020 Kentucky Derby — even as the company pushes forward with plans to run the race in September with fans.[/FONT]
[FONT="]This year has been especially difficult for Black residents across the city and nation, with the coronavirus pandemic and several high-profile killings by police exposing racial "atrocities that have been in place for some time," said Timothy Findley, a senior pastor at the Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center.[/FONT]
[FONT="]To continue on with a celebratory event such as the Derby, he said, would be "inappropriate" amid protests in honor of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville police officers at her South End apartment in March."The idea of having this festival that will last a week while so many people in our community are hurting, it shows the callous nature of this capitalistic city and society that we live in," said Findley, who recently formed the Justice and Freedom Coalition, which has called on people to boycott the Derby if it continues as planned.On Wednesday, while announcing updates for the fast-approaching Derby, Churchill Downs President Kevin Flanery said the events that have led to current civil unrest "deserve thoughtful discussion, continued conversation and subsequent action."[/FONT]
[FONT="]This year has been especially difficult for Black residents across the city and nation, with the coronavirus pandemic and several high-profile killings by police exposing racial "atrocities that have been in place for some time," said Timothy Findley, a senior pastor at the Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center.[/FONT]
[FONT="]To continue on with a celebratory event such as the Derby, he said, would be "inappropriate" amid protests in honor of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville police officers at her South End apartment in March."The idea of having this festival that will last a week while so many people in our community are hurting, it shows the callous nature of this capitalistic city and society that we live in," said Findley, who recently formed the Justice and Freedom Coalition, which has called on people to boycott the Derby if it continues as planned.On Wednesday, while announcing updates for the fast-approaching Derby, Churchill Downs President Kevin Flanery said the events that have led to current civil unrest "deserve thoughtful discussion, continued conversation and subsequent action."[/FONT]
