Our thoughts this week have been with the families of George Floyd, Adam Toledo, and Daunte Wright. We are outraged that from a very young age, Black and Brown community members live with the fear that any encounter with police could end in their deaths. It’s time for our society to reorient our priorities and resources: away from militarized law enforcement systems that foster state violence, and toward programming and services that improve the wellbeing and health of everyone in our communities.
The verdict in Minnesota brings necessary accountability to the police department and the former officer who murdered Mr. Floyd; we are hopeful that it is evidence of our society’s growing willingness to redress the racism and white supremacy that puts Black, Indigenous and other people of color in danger in the United States. But the national reckoning that started last summer following Mr. Floyd’s death, when community members took to the streets to protest to defend Black lives, must not end with this one trial. At the National Immigrant Justice Center, we are committed to continue the work we began last summer toward becoming an anti-racist organization, and to continue working in solidarity with BIPOC communities toward a society that upholds justice and defends their lives.