John,
Last week’s horrific murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis has once again laid bare the systemic racism that has plagued our country for hundreds of years.
Their actions, and that of similar racist police who killed Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor and so many more, have finally and rightfully reached a boiling point. The demand for justice is visceral, exploding across the country in scores of communities with tens of thousands in the streets and many millions at home cheering them on.
The vast majority of these protesters have been peaceful, yet they have been rounded up and arrested by police in riot gear, demonstrating to us all how far we need to go as a country to right the wrongs of the past and those that too many suffer under today.
Right now, many protesters are still stuck in jail because of our country’s cash bail system, which criminalizes poverty and only serves to magnify the inequalities in our justice system.
Will you join Americans for Tax Fairness today and split a donation between 39 community bail funds that are bailing out protesters and others who are unable to post the cash bail necessary to be released.
Together, we must fight back against fundamental flaws in American society: a racist justice system; a rigged economy that produces large and growing income and wealth gaps; the dangerous concentration of money and power in a few greedy hands; and deeply embedded racism, America’s original sin.
Always present but invisible to the elite, the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted those structural flaws. Black, Latinx and Native American communities have been hardest hit by the pandemic, in lives lost, jobs and businesses obliterated, and the forced risks taken by many to keep providing for their families.
The murder of George Floyd by racist police has ignited the tinder of injustice across the land. And we must all do our part to demand an end to racist and economic policies that have brought us to this moment.
Donate today to bail funds across the country, which are bailing out protesters and others who are imprisoned and unable to afford the cash bail necessary to be released.
Now is time for a reckoning: on the streets, but also in our souls.
We must harness our outrage to bring about a foundational reworking of our economic and social systems, including defeating systemic racism. In protests, on social media, through our votes this November, and through the way we live our lives we must ensure that George Floyd’s death not be just one more maddening, sickening tragedy, but the start of a new era in America.
We urge you to provide some short-term financial assistance to organizations fighting on the frontlines, as we all work together to build a better economy and society over the long-term.
Thank you for doing your part to bring about the racial, social and economic change we so desperately need.
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness
