A bipartisan majority cleared the way for the U.S. Senate to consider legislation that would protect legal recognition for same-sex couples’ marriages even if the far-right Supreme Court majority overturns the court’s 2015 marriage equality ruling. And like clockwork, anti-LGBTQ activists put their fearmongering about the Respect for Marriage Act into high gear.

As the dust settles on the midterm elections and the warnings of a “Red Wave” evaporate, it’s time to take a deep breath and take stock of what we’ve learned. There are many takeaways from the elections this year – and here are a few that top the list.

People For’s recent report, All Safe: Transforming Public Safety, provides concrete policy proposals for the transformation and implementation of public safety programs specifically at the local level. Eliminating police violence and improving public safety are vital to Black communities throughout our country.

To better understand where these issues stand today and the urgency behind calls to end police killings and abuse, it’s critical to reach back to the origins of policing and examine how law enforcement have interacted with Black communities throughout American history.

In this guest blog post, Rev. Dr. Susan K. Williams Smith explains the history of policing in the United States and how it’s intrinsically tied to violence against Black communities.