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No person of character and common sense can watch the video footage of what police did to George Floyd without being horrified. There are no words to sufficiently capture the pain so many people are feeling right now. But here’s what I do know: Civil rights is the unfinished business of America, and it’s all our responsibility to see that work to completion.
We’ve no doubt made progress, but if there’s anything the events of the past couple weeks have laid bare it’s that we have so much more work to do. From George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, to Breonna Taylor’s death in Louisville, to Ahmaud Arbery’s death near Brunswick, Georgia, everything we’ve seen serves as a sobering reminder of the violence Black men and women face every day in America — and just how far we have to go to root out the poison of racism that pervades every facet of our society.
And yet, this president has done nothing to heal the wounds that have been so vividly exposed. Rather than condemn the racist violence that launched these protests, Trump has sown division and incited violence by threatening the protesters.
More than 100,000 are dead, 40 million newly out of work, and the country is on fire. Americans are crying out for leadership and reform. Instead of providing it, Trump is fanning the flames and retreating into the White House.
This work is not easy, but I’ve seen it done. As head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, I worked to investigate police misconduct and hold police departments accountable to the communities they serve.
I’ve seen countless heroes step up in tragedies like this. I know there’s reason for hope and there’s reason to press on.
We will continue to honor the lives of those we have lost. And we will keep seeking justice for all the families that go through these tragedies by fighting to end police brutality and the institutional racism that pervades every aspect of our society. So long as Black men and women cannot breathe, we cannot rest.
In unity,
Tom
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Chair
Democratic National Committee
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