Hello East Bay Young Democrats,
We oppose ineffective and discriminatory criminal justice policies. We stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives. We condemn the police brutality that led to the horrific murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless more.
We want more effective and accountable policing in our communities. This means recruiting and training public officials, not limited to police, who can work effectively in cross-cultural situations and mental health crises, ensuring independent investigators in cases of police use of deadly force, providing funding for labs to complete all rape kits in a timely fashion, and collecting data to ensure all communities are treated equitably.
We want to share with you all the statewide press release statement from our state chapter affiliate, the California Young Democrats:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 30, 2020
California Young Democrats
Sadalia King, Communications Director
[email protected]
Statement on the Nationwide Protests
SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Young Democrats stand with those who are protesting nationwide in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others because we know that #BlackLivesMatter. These protests occur with more frequency and become more violent due to the lack of institutional change in policing and prisons.
Watching the regular extrajudicial executions of Black people in viral videos while city after city allows their murderers to still walk among us is a form of trauma for our society. Minimal repercussions for this violence only emboldens those officers and limits the ability of the community to heal. Studies have shown that implicit bias training and efforts toward diversifying a police force cannot, by themselves, make the impact that our communities need. However, holding police officers accountable for these deaths and pursuing justice would make that impact.
As Democrats, we must prioritize a national campaign for the institutional changes required for “liberty and justice for all” to be a reality for Black communities. As California Young Democrats, we will prioritize it. Our platform supports advocating for these changes, our solidarity belongs with those who are most marginalized, and the moral clarity of this moment requires it.
The California Young Democrats support the divestment from prisons and race-based policing, establishing a transparent accountability process for police officers, and encourage the disaffiliation of police unions from our labor partners.
The California Young Democrats call for the California Democratic Party, California Senate Democrats, the California Assembly Democrats, and all other related institutions to cease accepting campaign contributions and financial contributions from organizations that protect the status quo of policing and seek to disrupt the meaningful work of police and criminal justice reform. The labor movement has a long and proud history of fighting for justice, equity, and progress, which continues to this day. Sadly, the same cannot always be said of police unions and peace officer associations. We encourage our partners to draw a clear distinction and encourage the disaffiliation of police unions from our labor partners.
Just as we can point to fossil fuels as being obsolete and causing more harm than good to our communities, the same argument can be made about policing and prisons. We will continue to champion for the redirection of resources from policing to public health just as we have championed redirecting from coal to green, renewable energy.
The entire institution of what we call justice in America, of policing and prisons and violence against community members, requires fundamental national change. Our party must lead this change. We are lifting our voices in solidarity with this critical national effort that must start now.
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California Young Democrats is the official youth arm of the California Democratic Party made up of Democrats age 14 – 35. It is committed to activating the youth vote, empowering Young Democrats in their community, electing Democrats to office and building a new generation of progressive leadership.
In solidarity,
The East Bay Young Democrats
In the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?
—The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., "The Other America" speech, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, March 12, 1968
