Black former US ambassadors call for reforms to address police brutality and systemic racism

The Association of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA) said in a statement that "it is time for all people of conscience to voice their opposition to legally sanctioned violence; it is tarnishing America's image at home and abroad."

"We all want an equitable society where each of us has the right to breathe," the ambassadors said in the statement published on "All Africa" Tuesday.

Their call for reform comes as protests against racism, sparked by the death of Floyd at the hands of the police, have swept across the globe.

"While acts of violence against unarmed Black citizens are not new, we speak now to express our contempt about ongoing acts of police brutality as well as our society's stubborn resistance to addressing institutional racism. We spent our careers looking beyond America's borders, but these shocking events call us to look inward and join with others in opposing discrimination and oppression in all its forms," the ABAA statement said.

"We join our fellow citizens, brothers and sisters in demanding an end to inhumane police practices; we call for accountability, fairness, transparency, and transformation in our national, state and local institutions, including legal, judicial and law enforcement systems, to prevent future violence of this kind," they said.

The ambassadors said "equal rights and complete pursuit of justice" are needed as a first step "to rebuild our own citizens' confidence in our democratic system and values" and "to help restore our country's global human rights authority."

Although the majority of signatories are no longer active in the foreign service, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols also signed his name to the statement.

Last week, in response to being summoned to meet with Zimbabwe's foreign minister, Nichols released a striking and personal statement drawing on Floyd's death to call on the Zimbabwean government to end its violence against activists and to hold those who perpetuated such crimes accountable.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that State Department officials have suggested Secretary of State Mike Pompeo address his workforce on the issue of racial injustice, but he had declined to do so.

The top US diplomat was questioned by the press Wednesday on the worldwide protests and the domestic crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators and journalists, which current and former diplomats said undermine their mission to promote American ideals abroad.

"Our diplomats all around the world can be incredibly proud of the fact that they represent a nation that has God-given rights ensconced in our fundamental founding documents that ensure that when we get something wrong here in the United States, when something as tragic and as awful as what happened to George Floyd takes place, that the government responds," Pompeo said.

"I actually think our diplomats have this incredible opportunity to tell this important story about how America confronts challenges inside its own country in a way that reflects the finest of what our founders would have hoped America could achieve," he said.