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Friends —
The death of George Floyd is an outrage. We hold his loved ones in our hearts in the wake of his murder.
Floyd joins an inexcusably long list of unarmed Black people who have died at the hands of law enforcement. His chilling last words “I can’t breathe” echoed those of Eric Garner, killed six years ago this summer.
For too long, too many have closed their eyes to this American reality.
Since the election of Donald Trump, we have seen a rise in hate crimes in this nation. He has used his platform to spread racism, xenophobia, and bigotry, and has incited violence against his own citizens — in Charlottesville in 2017, and over the weekend when he threatened to shoot protestors in Minneapolis. What we are now seeing play out across the country, and right here in Washington this weekend, is a result of this hatred.
But here’s the thing: Donald Trump did not invent racism.
White supremacy and violence against Black people is baked into the very fabric of our country. From slavery, to Jim Crow, to redlining, to the Civil Rights Movement, to the war on drugs, to mass incarceration — we have a long history of oppression against Black communities in this country.
Something has to change. In every level of government, in every jurisdiction, we need leaders that will acknowledge this reality, dismantle oppressive systems of white supremacy, and work together to create communities where Black people can live free of harm and oppression at the hands of law enforcement.
We are committed to building that reality and supporting the leaders that will make it happen.
— Everyone at the Washington Senate Democrats
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