Statement from the President | June 8, 2020

OUR TROUBLED TIMES

We at the Jung Institute of Chicago are distraught and deeply saddened by the violence and racism directed at people of color. We join in solidarity with all our sisters and brothers who have been the object of ongoing systemic racial discrimination, violence and hatred. We express our deepest sympathy for the deaths of the most recent victims of racial violence, George Floyd , Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the untold stories of so many who have suffered from the systemic oppression and injustice in our nation.

We astonishingly watch as the world community from Minneapolis, to DC, to London, to Berlin, to Tehran, to Dublin join in protest together – we witness and join the agony and suffering of the world soul responding to the oppression and ubiquitous racism prevalent in our world. We wish to join all peoples hand-in-hand in bringing greater consciousness and change as the fruit of the lives that have been lost through reckless and violent acts of hatred. 

The Jungian community of Chicago acknowledges that it needs to be part of the solution of bringing healing and care and an ongoing response that involves the courage to speak out and address racism in all its disguises. If we are faithful we will transform racism in both ourselves and in our world consciousness!

As sages throughout history have reminded us, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jesus, Jung and others, that one of the most difficult things is not to change society – but to change ourselves. We all have a purpose and mission, just like our brother, George.

George J. Didier
President