The following statement is from SEIU 503 African/African American Caucus (AFRAM) on the 6-month anniversary of the killing of George Floyd:
It’s been 6 months since George Floyd was killed and what have you seen? Bail funds, crowdfunding, and a lot of others raising millions to support Black Lives Matter, but where were they when we needed them?
The youth have played a vital role in the protests and the hundreds of demonstrations have served as a history lesson in decades of similar instances of violence, discrimination, and injustice against minority communities. Some of the most influential organizations have donated large sums of money to campaign for racial justice. But is this enough?
No, we need much more, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We need structural reform. If you remember, in 2016, the median white family had more than 10 times the wealth of a Black family. We need to change the way we fund schools with property taxes. If you live in a poor neighborhood, the taxes are lower – negatively affecting opportunities for children that live there, often African Americans. Of course, this would take time, but it’s a start.
We deserve reparations. That’s another way of closing the gap.
We need racism to stop. This also will take time because so many people have been brainwashed by their ancestors, and that’s all they know. Start educating them. Stop killing our Black people and treat us the way you want to be treated. Change yourself. Don’t talk about it, be about by being an advocate and start dismantling racism in the workplace, at home, and in the city, and even in Congress. We will never have a successful US until we start the change that we are all the same.
The fight to change police use of force against the Black community may be far from over, but it’s brought generations of civil rights leaders and the leaders of tomorrow together to continue to end a decades-long battle against injustice.
How can the land of the free not be able to confront police brutality? In America, you tell me!!