We are well beyond the point of thoughtful prayers, profound tweets, and hopeful messages. We stand in solidarity with the CDP’s African American Caucus in calling for justice for George Floyd.
The California Democratic Party (CDP) stands in solidarity with our Sisters and Brothers of the CDP’s African American Caucus to unequivocally denounce the racial violence inflicted upon Black Americans each and every day.
But, we are well beyond the point of thoughtful prayers, profound tweets, and hopeful messages. We must act. Not later. But now.
The tragic death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others call upon all of us to stand up, speak out, and eradicate these unspeakable tragedies and epic failures in our nation’s justice system.
Until then, we fall woefully short of our highest collective calling – to ensure “liberty and justice for all.”
The following statement is from Taisha Brown, Chairwoman of the CDP’s African American Caucus. We stand in solidarity with her call for justice.
Members of the African American Caucus and Concerned Americans:
Everyday we mourn the senseless deaths of innocent black men and women, we fear for our children, our young men and our families. We mothers, we sisters and we brothers of black men. We wonder who is next while at the same time hoping that the next time will never come – but yet again it has.
Today, we mourn the senseless death of yet another unarmed Black man, whose life did not matter and whose rights were violated by a man in blue, wearing a badge, an officer sworn to “Serve and Protect.” That man was George Floyd.
We the African American Caucus are not only deeply saddened but we are furious! Furious at a system that is broken, furious at Americans who are not equally as disturbed and furious at policies that fail to appropriately govern and do not discipline those officers who break the law.
Will Smith said it best when he said “Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed.”
When a Black man dies by the hands of police officers while being filmed and officers are not charged, it reinforces a form of institutionalized racism that says it is okay to kill first and deny later. Why are the rights of Black Americans being violated on the street, in their homes and even while on camera? When one American is executed by the judge and jury of one officer, that American has been stripped of his right to due process. According to the law, the officer is just one of the first steps in civil and criminal processing. So why are death sentences being ordered on our streets? Who can Black America expect to protect us, our rights and our lives?
On Monday,May 25th, George Floyd was murdered at the hands of armed police officers, who insisted on using excessive and unnecessary force. This is not the first time a man pleaded with Men in Blue to please just let me breathe, before being forced to die on the street while bystanders watched and recorded.
George repeated over and over again, “I can’t breathe,” until he breathed his last breath. Despite these pleas and even the cries of bystanders who begged the officers to release him, the officer rocked back and forth applying fatal pressure to Floyd’s neck, while another officer passively stood close by unmoved. Floyd ultimately lost consciousness and died.
We will not just sit and watch silently, but will continue to fight for equity, justice and the lives of all Black people. How many times will the police be allowed to execute Black people for all to see? How many more times will our human rights be violated? We say NO MORE! George Floyd is our son, he is your brother and he is someone’s father.
We can no longer allow privileged men in uniform to continue to commit genocide on our streets in the name of self defense and call it justice! We will no longer wait for more tragedies to terrorize the Black community, to threaten and take our lives, our children, fathers, sisters, mothers,brothers and friends because they feel threatened by the color of our skin. #BLACKLIVESMATTER
We, the California Democratic Party African American Caucus, are calling on the Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo to arrest and conduct a full investigation of all officers involved in Floyd’s death for murder.
Today we fight back, and we also ask our allies, and partners in the California Democratic Party to join us, in this effort.
In Solidarity for Black Lives,
Honorable Taisha Brown, Chair
African American Caucus
California Democratic Party
Our Democratic leaders are working hard to make California a better place to live. From fighting for good-paying jobs, combating climate change, to expanding healthcare access so all Californians can lead safe, healthy, prosperous lives — California’s Democratic leaders turn progressive ideas into meaningful action.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
