The victims of the El Paso terror attack deserve to be remembered

It was one of the worst attacks on Latinx in modern U.S. history. Why don't we know their names?

To be on the race beat is to be surrounded by ghosts.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. I’ve been thinking about in the long national conversation we’re now having about talent—about how to hire, keep, and grow the people we need to make sure our companies represent the world—we never mention the ghosts.

They’re everywhere.

The road to the executive suite starts at birth, and that’s exactly when people start dropping out of the pipeline. Maternal and infant health disparities. Unsafe and unhealthy neighborhoods. Inadequate schools and disproportionate treatment of students of color. Inadequate access to health care. Under-resourced and underemployed families. Police violence.

And sometimes, future leaders, creators, innovators, and CEOs get shot dead in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas by a man who hates them just because. Like 15-year-old Javier Rodriguez, a good student who loved soccer. And Jordan Anchondo, 25, and her husband, Andre, who were parents of three children. He owned a small business; they were shopping for school supplies.

I’ve been thinking about all the people who are not being remembered this week, and how quickly they’ve all become ghosts.

The coronavirus pandemic, in its own way, has robbed the El Paso community, Latinx people, and allies around the world of the opportunity to gather in tribute to the 23 people killed and over two dozen injured last year by a man who drove 700 miles out of his way to commit his act of terror. 

The City of El Paso had planned a series of memorial events, including hashtag tributes and digital photo walls, but it all seemed to come and go with little mainstream notice. 

Of course, it’s also worth noting that the person who made a memorial necessary has also been largely forgotten. He hated immigrants. He feared for the future of the European identity, whatever that is. At the time, experts cited the type of screed he posted online as similar enough to that of other mass murder events—like one left by the man who gunned down 51 people in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand—to be evidence of “cascading terrorism.”

Don’t hear much about that these days, either. As long as hate continues to cascade, which it will, we can expect more ghosts.

And shame on us.

Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen.McGirt@fortune.com