Hi John,

It shouldn’t take capturing George Floyd’s horrific killing on film for us to speak out against the racist violence that people of color routinely experience. Now millions of Americans are taking to the streets and raising their voices to speak out against systemic racism and police brutality, including many of us right here in Maine.

We grieve for George Floyd. We grieve for Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. We grieve for those whose names we’ve chanted before. And we grieve for the tragedies of those whose names we never learned.

Our grief isn’t enough to adequately reckon with this country’s history of racism. Ultimately, that failure lies with us for staying silent. We allowed an unequal justice system that failed to reform criminal police practices and has incarcerated Maine people of color at much higher rates than white Mainers. We failed to address an unequal economic system where Maine people of color are more likely to earn lower wages and experience poverty than white Mainers. We allowed an unequal society where African American Mainers are getting the coronavirus at a rate ten times that of white Mainers.

These are questions we must address both here in Maine and nationwide, we can’t shy away from them. African American Mainers have been fighting for racial justice for generations but we all have a responsibility to rise to this challenge. For many Mainers across the state, that means understanding and acknowledging our privilege. It means recognizing that injustice against one Mainer is an injustice against every Mainer. It means grieving with Maine people of color and sharing the anger of those whose pain and experiences have been ignored or silenced. And it means harnessing this moment to bring about real change.

Black lives matter, unequivocally. And it’s time that we back up our words with action.

Thank you for all you do,

Kathleen

Kathleen Marra
Chair
Maine Democratic Party

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Maine Democratic Party
PO Box 5258
Augusta, ME 04332
United States

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