“In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body.”
-Ta-Nehisi Coates
As protests continue for a third day following the horrific murder of George Floyd by officers of the Minnesota Police Department, we want to make it clear: We stand in solidarity with communities of color and protesters who are saying enough is enough.
Year after year, brutal oppression and over-policing of Black communities by law enforcement results in tragic deaths of Black Americans. We bear witness, call for reform, but then move on. As W.E.B. DuBois wrote 120 years ago, our society is uniquely indifferent to the suffering of Black Americans. When will enough be enough; when will we tolerate this no longer? The killings of Black Americans by law enforcement represent a deeply embedded structural racism that is core to this country itself – that began with the first slave ship landing on our shores 400 years ago, that persisted with chattel slavery that serves as the very core of our modern day capitalism, that continued undeterred through 100 years of legalized apartheid and that persists today when Black bodies can be detained, incarcerated, demoralized and destroyed through a system we dare to refer to as a “justice” system.
Thousands of people take the streets not to revel in lawlessness, but to make yet another final plea to the world that America needs to awake from its racist stupor and atone for its past, provide reparations for the genocide and horrific brutality it has sanctioned and finally, finally understand that we must embark on radical systemic change at every level if we have any hope of fulfilling the dream of justice and equality for all.
We support all of those risking their lives to protest and screaming out NO MORE. And we will continue to work tirelessly to dismantle the racist, unjust structures and systems that continue to allow the state sanctioned destruction of black bodies.
-By Aneel Chablani, Chief Counsel
