We unequivocally condemn police brutality, state-sanctioned violence, and the use of militarized force against protestors. We also denounce curfews, which have been used as a tool to arrest thousands of civilians, including journalists and essential workers. This continues a long history of flagrant abuse of power by police departments to maintain control over Black and brown communities and those who speak up against police violence.

The national and international protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin and fellow Minneapolis police officers in May, 2020, marked but the latest flashpoint of a worldwide movement against racist, state-sanctioned violence at the hands of police.

This country was founded on the notion of racism. The fundamental infrastructure of the United States has always valued white lives over the lives of Black, Indigenous, and other persons of color. This is not solely a historical fact, but a systemic problem: America idolizes wealth, civility, whiteness, and the status quo. When we ignore the implicit racism in our societal structure, we enable this oppression to continue unchecked. When white America chooses not to condemn—or is simply silent about—racist violence, they are complicit in upholding a white supremacist system. This white supremacist system continues to exact an unbearable toll on Black communities every day, by exploiting Black labor and taking away Black people’s right to live safely and free of fear.

As we join others in outrage at the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Atatiana Jefferson, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, Rayshard Brooks, Nina Pop, Riah Milton, Dominique “Rem’mie” Mills, Ma’Khia Bryant, Patrick Lyoya, and thousands of other Black lives that were cut short by police brutality, we simultaneously recognize the physical, mental, and emotional tolls that state-sanctioned violence and systemic racism exact on Black people every day. We also remember Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Natasha McKenna, Elijah McClain, Botham Jean, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Muhlaysia Booker, and countless other Black people, including Black trans women, whose deaths are often forgotten. We honor and support the efforts of those who seek to end this most brutal manifestation of racism, through the #SayHerName campaign and many other initiatives devoted to transforming our culture.

Every city government in the U.S. faces a stark choice: whether to fund social services–including housing, food security, and mental healthcare–or to fund policing. History has shown us we cannot spend our way toward better police; to achieve genuinely safe communities for everyone, we must first demand fewer police and fewer police resources. We have seen time and time again that superficial reforms don’t work: the police continue to break the laws every day when they murder and injure Black and brown people. Many of the reforms being called for are already in place in several cities, such as New York, Minneapolis, and Chicago, so we know that’s not enough to stop police brutality. In addition, many of these reforms, such as body cameras and anti-bias training, actually increase the police’s budget without a corresponding increase in public safety. Policing’s history is inherently anti-Black and completely racist: its roots are linked to the capture of those escaping slavery and the enforcement of Black Codes.

We will be sharing some resources that imagine a world that redistributes police funding to community resources and breaks down our current police organizations in order to rebuild something that supports our communities as opposed to trying to destroy them. We hope you will read them and start to imagine this world, too, and then help us take action to make it possible.

Progressives supposedly believe in anti-racism, but we haven’t done enough, and we have often been silent or complicit. We support Black communities when they co-sign our goals, but don’t do enough to place their voices and strategies front and center on our podium. We have a lot of work to do to make the Black community feel more comfortable in our movement and address the racism within.

As part of Daily Kos’ racial justice work, we are making the following external and internal organizational commitments.

The road to dismantling white supremacy is long, and we know we have more work to do. The above list is just the beginning.

In conclusion: Black Lives Matter.

In solidarity,
Daily Kos Equity Council