THE TIME IS NOW

The uprisings we’re witnessing in cities across the country since the death of George Floyd are a direct consequence of the racism, bigotry, violence, and subjugation against Black people that has festered in this country for far too long. The close proximity of the murders of Mr. George Floyd, Ms. Breonna Taylor and Mr. Ahmaud Arbery set off a chain reaction calling for justice. The lack of accountability by the police has set into motion what can only be described as a moment of reckoning for our nation’s conscience.

The Preamble to the United States Constitution reads: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Yet, when the Constitution was signed and ratified by the delegates of the Thirteen Original Colonies, they did not account for the humanity of roughly 20 percent of the entire population. They fought for their independence from British rule, but left out the freedom of its enslaved Black population. And ever since, Black Americans have fought to be included in the Constitution of the United States and pushed the U.S to live up to the ideals it espouses.

The Utah Black Roundtable advocates for police reform. It is time for everyone to begin asking themselves difficult questions and it’s time to have difficult conversations about what policing should look like and why policy in communities of color look significantly different than it does in White communities. It it time to bring an end to anti-Blackness and the criminalization of Blackness. Police reform means holding police departments accountable for their role in terrorizing communities of colors. It must mean a complete and thorough policy reset so that people of color who are victims of police brutality are never put on trial for their own murder.

The ongoing practice of police brutality, especially against the Black community, is not only a civil rights issue but also a human rights issue. 

Secondly, we need sweeping police reform–federal and state legislation mandating a zero-tolerance approach in penalizing and/or prosecuting police officers who kill unarmed, non-violent, and non-resisting individuals in an arrest.

Systemic Racism In Policing On Access Utah

With UBR Chair Darlene McDonald and Representative Sandra Hollins with Tom Williams July 23. 2020