vox--2020-06-16--What 4 organizers want to see from America’s protests

The protests that began after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis , Minnesota , have , in a matter of weeks , now reached all 50 states , and about 2,000 American cities .
They ’ ve cropped up around the world .
And they keep going .
The rallying for black lives and a wholesale reckoning with police brutality and racism feels like a release of pent-up pressure , boiling and rattling in the American body politic for generations , finally unleashed at the start of a dark summer , with thousands still dying from a novel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And amid cries of “ Black Lives Matter ” and “ defund the police , ” change is starting to happen .
Cities and states are adopting laws that once sat dormant , to increase police accountability and transparency .
Many municipalities , their budgets squeezed by the coronavirus response , are rethinking police funding .
Some places , like Minneapolis , are trying to envision an entirely new model for public safety .
To better understand this moment , and what is unfolding , Vox spoke to four activists across the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systemic racism and police brutality long before this season of protest .
Vox asked them how they saw this current movement , what challenges the protests still face , and how the outpouring on America ’ s streets may have changed what ’ s possible .
The conversations , edited for length and clarity , are below .
What you set out to accomplish : I think what was immediately clear was that we wanted justice for George Floyd — and justice wasn ’ t actually enough , which is why we began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now is the time to defund the police and invest in the community .
We were really pushing for folks to understand how critical it is for the Minneapolis Police Department to acknowledge the harm their institution has caused black families , to make an official apology .
And then we believe the city really needs to commit to divest funds from the police and invest in healthy community and safety measures .
If the city really wants to illustrate accountability to George ’ s family , and to the hundreds of other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police , it has to invest in a way where the police will feel it .
Accountability really looks like — in the language that they speak — money .
What we ’ re really wanting to make clear to the city council and our mayor [ Jacob Frey ] , was that the police are really upholding a strategy of white supremacy that dehumanizes black folk .
Because despite continued profiling , harassment , and killing , the Minneapolis government continues to invest in the police , leaving black communities vulnerable and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police actually means that Minneapolis cares about everybody who lives here .
I think people are really rising up for that , and for really transformative change .
Because the current system can ’ t actually keep black folks safe , as well as many other marginalized communities .
Why these protests are happening now : I think there ’ s a bunch of things that come together .
One , black communities are , and have been , living in persistent fear of being killed by state authority like the police and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are emboldened by state authorities like [ President Donald Trump ] when he says things like , “ when the looting starts , the shooting starts.
” What ’ s happening in Minneapolis is not unique .
It ’ s happening all over , you know , we saw it in Brunswick , in Indianapolis , in Tallahassee , in Atlanta , and Louisville .
Eventually we saw protests , and even some uprisings in all 50 states and all across the world .
Modern-day policing institutions have their roots in slave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to remember that these systems from the beginning were created to hunt , to maim , and to kill black people .
The police have long been an uncontrollable force of violence , terrorizing our communities without accountability and with too many resources .
That ’ s the foundation of the police for this country in general .
And Minneapolis , specifically , has been the poster child of reform .
All of the things that could be tried were tried here .
Before there was George Floyd , there was Philando Castile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ David Smith , Terrance Franklin , Marcus Golden , Fong Lee .
I could go on and on and on about all of the different folks that have been murdered by the police here .
Black people account for more than 60 percent of the victims in Minneapolis police shootings from 2000 to 2018 .
The only time we saw any MPD officer actually be convicted in decades was Mohamed Noor , who was black , who murdered Justine Damond , who was a white woman and her family got a $ 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received a review from Obama ’ s Department of Justice in 2015 .
As part of a settlement [ over the death of David Smith , who was restrained by police ] the MPD was ordered to give the police training , not to put detainees in prone position , which is the exact way that [ former MPD officer ] Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd .
In 2018 , Black Visions , along with Reclaim the Block , was able to shift $ 1.1 million dollars from MPD and have that reallocated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Office of Violence Prevention .
We just got that office in 2018 , and we haven ’ t even had a chance to see how we can benefit the community , and the city council were already trying to take it away .
Right now , we even have a black police chief .
Even with all of that , [ the police ] still manage to kill black folks .
Those are some of the circumstances we were coming up inside of .
Then the pandemic .
And then police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feels like just so many different elements coming together for a perfect storm of people ’ s righteous rage and anger , leading them to the streets and staying in the streets for weeks on end .
How the protests have changed what ’ s possible : The protest makes me extremely hopeful .
Like I said , I believe in righteous rage and anger and grief that community members are expressing .
They are coming together like I have seen and haven ’ t seen before .
It ’ s been really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community who were setting up patrols and actually kicking white supremacists out of our city , and doing medic training , and setting up food drives and food banks and providing transportation for folks and all of that .
We ’ ve really seen our people take abolitionist theory to practice in a lot of ways , and really show up for each other and take care of each other in really concrete and incredible ways .
I really think that the protests , the uprising , across the country and across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me hope .
It serves to give other folks hope around what is possible when our people come together and what ’ s possible when we actually all care about black life and want a world in which black life , black humanity , black dignity is protected — and that we have systems that actually do that and honor black life .
The protests have shown us that Minneapolis can be a city where all of us have high-quality housing and livable wages , where rates of overdose and addiction actually go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have faith in their neighborhoods .
We can build this Minneapolis by investing in community-led safety infrastructure .
I think that a city budget is how elected officials actually illustrate what is and what ’ s not a priority .
The city council , in the past , has been reluctant to implement strategies for community safety , and instead have opted for more cops .
I think that , right now , the majority of the city council — with a supermajority of city council , a veto-proof majority of the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is saying they want to actually pursue this , and that is really , really exciting .
That Minneapolis that I described is much more possible now .
What ’ s coming is that we have to continue to hold their feet to the fire .
It ’ s actually on communities , on organizers , to continue to hold [ elected officials ] accountable .
Part of that was them making a public commitment .
Now the work has to continue , the hard work of imagining and implementing and experimenting with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every member of our community .
What challenges remain : I think having an authoritarian , fascist in the White House doesn ’ t help , who is hell-bent on doing everything he can to endanger not only black people , but protesters and anybody who actually wants to have a democracy .
The rights of protesters being respected and protected has been a concern .
The way that folks are talking about looting or rioting — versus uprising and rebellion — is a challenge .
We need folks to understand a violation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human life .
When that happens , every protester is put at risk .
That ’ s part of why we ’ ve been demanding that local and state officials ensure that there aren ’ t any abuse of powers and there ’ s no use of lethal force on protesters , and that the police and the National Guard cease using things like sponge markers and rubber bullets and tear gas .
One of the major challenges on the ground has been continuing to figure out how to keep ourselves safe as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the National Guard , and from white supremacists .
All of these different forces descended upon our city , and what does it mean for us to be creating safety in real time for one another , as we push our city to continue to imagine what public safety looks like for all of us and long term ?
Another concern is really thinking about democracy and its relationship with social movements .
A democracy that ignores social movements is no democracy at all .
A lot of people don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movements or refuse to acknowledge it .
And so we have been demanding attentive and responsive representations that not only hears the cries of community in crises , but also works with the community to solve problems .
The Minneapolis city council ’ s vote was also really encouraging on that front .
Where the protests will go from here : I hope for other cities and locales , that they continue to have the same movement and organizing to defund the police and move it closer to a police-free future in which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I don ’ t see things slowing down here in Minneapolis .
The city council is in the middle of crafting the budget right now , and we ’ ll be voting on it .
We ’ re going to continue to see what happens here — and see that [ the city council ] sees their commitment through .
I don ’ t see people stopping .
There have been so many wins , the community continues to win .
And what the community is doing right now is taking care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Floyd ] has been there ever since that first rally that started .
There ’ s going to be some transition around what are the pieces that we ’ re able to keep permanently .
Folks have a really beautiful vision around turning that intersection into a roundabout or maybe a garden .
What is the most wonderful use of that space that fits the community ?
How does it need to be transformed to honor everything that ’ s happened there ?
Folks are thinking about what it means to rebuild @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the black businesses .
Folks are coming together to do that work .
We are still inside of a pandemic .
What is the spike that Minnesota is going to see ?
What is the work that we ’ re going to need to do to help keep our people safe and alive in a pandemic and continue to provide care ?
All of those different conversations are coming up .
So what is the short-term and immediate — and then also the medium- to long-term planning that we ’ re doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also think people are going to continue to build — between Portland and Los Angeles and New York — more and more and more institutions , calling for the divestment from the policing institutions and defunding the police in and of themselves .
I think we ’ re going to see that more and more become possible from here .
How you see the recent protests : I think the protests that we have now are more of a critical mass as opposed to just spontaneous pop-ups in certain parts of the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but this is a demand for real change — none of that , you know , symbolic gesture-madness that they try to push : ‘ We ’ ll make a new no-chokehold rule ’ ’ and all of that other stuff .
They actually need to change laws .
We ’ re not just talking about attacking police brutality .
We ’ re talking about the system in its totality .
That ’ s elected officials and other appointed officials who make the policies , laws , and rules that enable the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What you want to accomplish : There are always specific goals because this is about pitching people who would get mad at you .
You can ’ t protest without making a whole piece of it being about education .
I mean , if you leave a protest and you don ’ t know half the people you stood next to , you ’ re part of the problem .
My responsibility to Black Lives Matter Houston is to make sure people know who to be mad at .
[ They should ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything from the governor down to the city council members because each can make rules and ordinances and policies that could change the trajectory of our people .
People don ’ t really understand that .
And when I say people , I mean white people .
This is about not just making policy , but enforcing the policies — and to have the bodies or entities that are there so it happens .
Different agencies have inspector generals , departments where people can go and whistleblow .
I think we need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to have people on advisory boards that are not political appointees , that have subpoena power , who are able to hold people to the mat .
Hold people ’ s feet to the fire .
I don ’ t think we have enough of that now .
That ’ s why there ’ s been a lot of protesting .
Because it ’ s not just George Floyd .
It ’ s Breonna Taylor , and the six people who were murdered here .
Whether the coronavirus pandemic has shaped these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dismantled over the last 10 years .
After we got the Affordable Care Act — even though it wasn ’ t perfect — people had some home health care .
You ’ re telling the people to stay home , don ’ t wear a mask — and then you tell them to wear a mask , and when they wear a mask they go to the store they get accosted for wearing the mask and have to justify why they ’ re buying a gallon of milk .
Racial profiling — you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whole ideology toward black people is a problem .
A lot of us have watched family members die .
You can definitely see the haves and the have-nots out of the situation .
So when you tell somebody to stay home , [ somebody ] who gets laid off from their low-paid minimum wage job , has kids .
[ You tell somebody ] , “ Oh yeah , you should cook at home , ” but you ’ re living in a food desert and the only grocery store ... the items @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What are you promoting to us ?
There ’ s these connections that talk about overall approaches , and how we ’ re treated economically as well as by law enforcement that needs to be recognized .
I don ’ t think people talk enough about that .
Where the protests go from here : I don ’ t know how long they ’ ll go , but I just know that they ’ re not stopping anytime soon .
And I wouldn ’ t stand in the way of it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes people uncomfortable .
Anyiwei Maciek , One Fargo : “ I think that change is going to come ” What you set out to accomplish : The original March that was on Saturday [ May 30 in Fargo ] , it was created a couple days after George Floyd ’ s death happened .
Me and my friend Morgan , who is actually white , we were just Snapchatting and she commented , and we were just talking about how sad it was .
We brought up the Ahmaud Arbery case and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ messed up that we were talking about this three weeks earlier , me and you , about how this is not okay .
North Dakota has kind of stayed really like silent , and that made me start realizing that race is kind of a taboo thing that we don ’ t really even talk about here .
And [ my friend Morgan ] was like , yeah , I completely agree .
And I ’ m just like , do you think if I created a march any people would show up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had the thought in mind that it would probably be 30 people that showed up .
I honestly did not think it would get as big as it did .
Fargo can not just stay silent this time .
We can ’ t just say “ rest in peace ” and “ hashtag Black Lives Matter ” and move on like this .
[ George Floyd ’ s death ] literally happened three hours away from us .
Have the protests changed what ’ s possible : After the protests , we kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ okay , it can ’ t just stop as a protest .
We ’ ve had people come say , Hey , I ’ m so happy that you guys did that protest .
It ’ s about time someone like talks about the racism that ’ s here in Fargo .
So many people were telling us that .
This just can ’ t stop here .
We definitely need to talk about police reforms and the different things that can get the entire citizens of Fargo — not just white and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comfortable and safe around police officers .
I ’ ve talked to numerous people who have said that if something happens , they don ’ t even file a complaint anymore with the police because the police don ’ t really follow up or sometimes , they don ’ t even write a report .
That ’ s something that needs to be changed and that needs to change now .
What challenges you face : A lot of the threats that we ’ ve been getting , talking about racism you do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really for it .
White supremacists and people like that .
Those have been kind of scary — but the amount of support and love that we ’ ve been getting has outweighed all of that .
Where do you see the protests going : I don ’ t want to condone the rioting and looting , but I think [ something changed ] once it turned to that , once people saw Minneapolis burning down the police precinct and burning down the city — basically seeing how much the city hates the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they ’ re really starting to realize the power that their citizens have .
They might start doing police reforms .
Some states are trying to defund the police .
I think a lot of changes are about to come , that ’ s why it feels totally different .
Because I don ’ t think we ’ ve ever even talked about defunding police in such a massive way prior to this .
I think even the fact that that ’ s a topic — I think that change is going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lives Matter Memphis : “ Win these demands and really push for this new world we ’ re all just imagining ” What did you set out to accomplish : The official Black Lives Matter Memphis chapter has been around for almost five years now .
What we are still seeking is very much so tied to the work that we ’ ve been doing on the ground for years .
We have two campaigns at the chapter .
One is around ending money bail and the other around ending pretrial detention .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ re calling for right in this time .
This call for defunding the police — it ’ s very much so rooted in that , and thinking about how are we investing money and resources into social services .
As a part of our end money bail campaign , the tactic we use is a bailout .
Since 2017 , we ’ ve participated in the Black Mama ’ s Bailout .
We also do like Juneteenth and Father ’ s Day bailouts .
We pay in full — we don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re highlighting the injustices of the money bail system because there are so many people who are sitting in jail right now , pre-trial , simply because they can not afford to pay bail .
Most folks don ’ t have $ 20,000 , so that ’ s what we do , we pay that , we pay their bail and we also provide them with supportive services .
Because what we know to be true is that in order to curb recidivism and contact with the criminal legal system is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to survive and thrive .
We ’ ve just really seen the lack of supportive services infrastructure .
There is no infrastructure for formerly incarcerated folks .
And so for us , shrinking the police , jail , and prison budgets and investing money into social services , community services , is always something that we ’ ve been interested in and have pushed for and continued pushing for in the midst of these protests Why the protests are happening now : It ’ s definitely a culmination of years and years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work that we ’ ve been doing with BLM for years .
I think about the generations and generations of systemic racism and systemic oppression and all of these experiences that we ’ ve been — that black folks have had for , again , generations and generations and generations , and I would say that the pandemic has highlighted and unearthed a lot of those oppressions .
We ’ ve seen like how black folks have been impacted by Covid-19 in various ways and the risk factor or the issue is racism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We see all the ways , the myriad of ways that black lives have always been devalued .
We really see that in this moment .
Even though we ’ re thinking about police violence , it highlights all the ways that black people for centuries have been devalued in this country .
And , for me , it is a result of pushing and organizing for years .
What challenges have you faced : Definitely the challenge was of work in the South , of being like overlooked and devalued .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work here , and I think that the South is often overlooked .
In a lot of different ways , whose stories are uplifted , often times it is like people like in the North on the East Coast and the West Coast .
And resources , money — they don ’ t make their way to the South .
But there ’ s amazing work that ’ s being done in the South , and that has been done in the South for generations .
And we ’ re up against so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ racism and oppression — that ’ s true for the rest of the country , but also thinking about in the aftermath of Jim Crow laws , and those things being very specific to the South .
The fact that the South also has been the testing ground for a lot of like harmful things .
That ’ s just to say there ’ s a lot of things that happen to the South .
There ’ s a lot of very powerful organizing here , that has always happened in the South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenge I want to highlight , too .
Definitely people trying to shift the messaging or change it .
Some people , maybe it ’ s an introduction .
[ Organizers ] are like , hey , we ’ ve been calling for these things for a while .
This is the message .
I think another challenge is people trying to shift the messaging , or like shift what we mean by certain demands , and it ’ s like no , we ’ re clear .
We ’ ve been very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ ve been doing it for years and we ’ ve been clear on what we mean and what we ’ re pushing for .
I want to be clear , because I ’ m not necessarily right now thinking about new folks coming to the movement and being energized .
Let me say that there are elected officials and people in power who are trying to appear to be progressive .
I want to say that that is who I ’ m thinking about .
[ Those who say ] , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lives Matter and moving beyond just saying that and taking what we ’ re saying and have been asking for in our demands as a practice and not trying to water it down Where the protests go from here : I think that this is a ripe opportunity for one , people being politicized .
A lot of folks are joining in .
I also am very excited about the young people — there a lot of young people who are in Memphis and also nationwide who are leading these protests , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looks like to affirm young people ’ s leadership , I ’ m looking forward to that .
And also with just some of the demands that I shared earlier .
I think that there could be some energy around ending money bail and pretrial detention .
This is a fight that is going to be a statewide fight .
Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer introduced a resolution to decrease the police budget and like reinvest those funds in other ways including education and health care .
Unfortunately it didn ’ t pass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an opportunity to build on that and pushing folks to defund the police , shrink those budgets and invest that money into black communities .
There should be more of a conversation and more action around it .
And nationwide , similarly .
I think there are a lot of cities that are being very bold and pushing further demands around defunding the police .
We see the results .
They ’ re happening .
We ’ re seeing what ’ s happening in Minneapolis .
We ’ re seeing other places thinking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We see that in different parts of the country .
It ’ s definitely an opportunity for us to continue to build power and to win these demands and really push for this new world we ’ re all just imagining .
This is also something that I ’ ve been thinking about : what we ’ re trying to dismantle , what we ’ re trying to get rid of , and also what we ’ re trying to build , right ?
We ’ re trying to be these sustainable and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the full spectrum of health care without discrimination and judgment .
I ’ m a reproductive freedom person , that is my paid job , so I do want to highlight that , too .
Access to clean water , access to education , all of these things that we know that are human rights and that communities need to thrive .
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The protests that began after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have, in a matter of weeks, now reached all 50 states, and about 2,000 American cities. They’ve cropped up around the world. And they keep going.
The rallying for black lives and a wholesale reckoning with police brutality and racism feels like a release of pent-up pressure, boiling and rattling in the American body politic for generations, finally unleashed at the start of a dark summer, with thousands still dying from a novel coronavirus and millions and millions unemployed.
And amid cries of “Black Lives Matter” and “defund the police,” change is starting to happen. Cities and states are adopting laws that once sat dormant, to increase police accountability and transparency. Many municipalities, their budgets squeezed by the coronavirus response, are rethinking police funding. Some places, like Minneapolis, are trying to envision an entirely new model for public safety.
To better understand this moment, and what is unfolding, Vox spoke to four activists across the country, most of whom have been fighting systemic racism and police brutality long before this season of protest. Vox asked them how they saw this current movement, what challenges the protests still face, and how the outpouring on America’s streets may have changed what’s possible.
The conversations, edited for length and clarity, are below.
Miski Noor, Black Visions Collective: “A perfect storm of people’s righteous rage and anger”
34, Minneapolis, Minnesota
What you set out to accomplish: I think what was immediately clear was that we wanted justice for George Floyd — and justice wasn’t actually enough, which is why we began the call for folks to know that now is the time to defund the police and invest in the community.
We were really pushing for folks to understand how critical it is for the Minneapolis Police Department to acknowledge the harm their institution has caused black families, to make an official apology.
And then we believe the city really needs to commit to divest funds from the police and invest in healthy community and safety measures. If the city really wants to illustrate accountability to George’s family, and to the hundreds of other families whose loved ones were killed by police, it has to invest in a way where the police will feel it. Accountability really looks like — in the language that they speak — money.
What we’re really wanting to make clear to the city council and our mayor [Jacob Frey], was that the police are really upholding a strategy of white supremacy that dehumanizes black folk. Because despite continued profiling, harassment, and killing, the Minneapolis government continues to invest in the police, leaving black communities vulnerable and our city no safer. Defunding the police actually means that Minneapolis cares about everybody who lives here.
I think people are really rising up for that, and for really transformative change. Because the current system can’t actually keep black folks safe, as well as many other marginalized communities.
Why these protests are happening now: I think there’s a bunch of things that come together. One, black communities are, and have been, living in persistent fear of being killed by state authority like the police and immigration agents, and even white vigilantes who are emboldened by state authorities like [President Donald Trump] when he says things like, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
What’s happening in Minneapolis is not unique. It’s happening all over, you know, we saw it in Brunswick, in Indianapolis, in Tallahassee, in Atlanta, and Louisville. Eventually we saw protests, and even some uprisings in all 50 states and all across the world.
Modern-day policing institutions have their roots in slave catching, so it’s critical to remember that these systems from the beginning were created to hunt, to maim, and to kill black people. The police have long been an uncontrollable force of violence, terrorizing our communities without accountability and with too many resources. That’s the foundation of the police for this country in general.
And Minneapolis, specifically, has been the poster child of reform. All of the things that could be tried were tried here. Before there was George Floyd, there was Philando Castile and Jamar Clark and Christopher Burns and David Smith, Terrance Franklin, Marcus Golden, Fong Lee. I could go on and on and on about all of the different folks that have been murdered by the police here. Black people account for more than 60 percent of the victims in Minneapolis police shootings from 2000 to 2018. The only time we saw any MPD officer actually be convicted in decades was Mohamed Noor, who was black, who murdered Justine Damond, who was a white woman and her family got a $20 million settlement.
The Minneapolis Police Department received a review from Obama’s Department of Justice in 2015. As part of a settlement [over the death of David Smith, who was restrained by police] the MPD was ordered to give the police training, not to put detainees in prone position, which is the exact way that [former MPD officer] Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.
In 2018, Black Visions, along with Reclaim the Block, was able to shift $1.1 million dollars from MPD and have that reallocated to community-led safety, like the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention. We just got that office in 2018, and we haven’t even had a chance to see how we can benefit the community, and the city council were already trying to take it away. Right now, we even have a black police chief. Even with all of that, [the police] still manage to kill black folks.
Those are some of the circumstances we were coming up inside of. Then the pandemic. And then police terror happened inside of that. It feels like just so many different elements coming together for a perfect storm of people’s righteous rage and anger, leading them to the streets and staying in the streets for weeks on end.
How the protests have changed what’s possible: The protest makes me extremely hopeful. Like I said, I believe in righteous rage and anger and grief that community members are expressing. They are coming together like I have seen and haven’t seen before. It’s been really deep and vigorous.
It was the community who were setting up patrols and actually kicking white supremacists out of our city, and doing medic training, and setting up food drives and food banks and providing transportation for folks and all of that. We’ve really seen our people take abolitionist theory to practice in a lot of ways, and really show up for each other and take care of each other in really concrete and incredible ways.
I really think that the protests, the uprising, across the country and across the world, have really served to give me hope. It serves to give other folks hope around what is possible when our people come together and what’s possible when we actually all care about black life and want a world in which black life, black humanity, black dignity is protected — and that we have systems that actually do that and honor black life.
The protests have shown us that Minneapolis can be a city where all of us have high-quality housing and livable wages, where rates of overdose and addiction actually go down instead of up, where people have faith in their neighborhoods.
We can build this Minneapolis by investing in community-led safety infrastructure. I think that a city budget is how elected officials actually illustrate what is and what’s not a priority. The city council, in the past, has been reluctant to implement strategies for community safety, and instead have opted for more cops. I think that, right now, the majority of the city council — with a supermajority of city council, a veto-proof majority of the city council voting to disband the police — is saying they want to actually pursue this, and that is really, really exciting.
That Minneapolis that I described is much more possible now. What’s coming is that we have to continue to hold their feet to the fire. It’s actually on communities, on organizers, to continue to hold [elected officials] accountable. Part of that was them making a public commitment. Now the work has to continue, the hard work of imagining and implementing and experimenting with what that really does look like for every member of our community.
What challenges remain: I think having an authoritarian, fascist in the White House doesn’t help, who is hell-bent on doing everything he can to endanger not only black people, but protesters and anybody who actually wants to have a democracy. The rights of protesters being respected and protected has been a concern.
The way that folks are talking about looting or rioting — versus uprising and rebellion — is a challenge. We need folks to understand a violation of property should never be equated with human life. When that happens, every protester is put at risk. That’s part of why we’ve been demanding that local and state officials ensure that there aren’t any abuse of powers and there’s no use of lethal force on protesters, and that the police and the National Guard cease using things like sponge markers and rubber bullets and tear gas.
One of the major challenges on the ground has been continuing to figure out how to keep ourselves safe as we face challenges from the police, from the National Guard, and from white supremacists. All of these different forces descended upon our city, and what does it mean for us to be creating safety in real time for one another, as we push our city to continue to imagine what public safety looks like for all of us and long term?
Another concern is really thinking about democracy and its relationship with social movements. A democracy that ignores social movements is no democracy at all. A lot of people don’t want to hear the cries of social movements or refuse to acknowledge it. And so we have been demanding attentive and responsive representations that not only hears the cries of community in crises, but also works with the community to solve problems. The Minneapolis city council’s vote was also really encouraging on that front.
Where the protests will go from here: I hope for other cities and locales, that they continue to have the same movement and organizing to defund the police and move it closer to a police-free future in which abolition — full abolition — is possible.
I don’t see things slowing down here in Minneapolis. The city council is in the middle of crafting the budget right now, and we’ll be voting on it. We’re going to continue to see what happens here — and see that [the city council] sees their commitment through.
I don’t see people stopping. There have been so many wins, the community continues to win. And what the community is doing right now is taking care of each other.
The memorial [for Floyd] has been there ever since that first rally that started. There’s going to be some transition around what are the pieces that we’re able to keep permanently. Folks have a really beautiful vision around turning that intersection into a roundabout or maybe a garden. What is the most wonderful use of that space that fits the community? How does it need to be transformed to honor everything that’s happened there?
Folks are thinking about what it means to rebuild some of the community institutions, some of the black businesses. Folks are coming together to do that work.
We are still inside of a pandemic. What is the spike that Minnesota is going to see? What is the work that we’re going to need to do to help keep our people safe and alive in a pandemic and continue to provide care? All of those different conversations are coming up.
So what is the short-term and immediate — and then also the medium- to long-term planning that we’re doing around creating and keeping safety. I also think people are going to continue to build — between Portland and Los Angeles and New York — more and more and more institutions, calling for the divestment from the policing institutions and defunding the police in and of themselves.
I think we’re going to see that more and more become possible from here.
Ashton P. Woods, Black Lives Matter Houston: “This is a demand for real change”
35, Houston, Texas
How you see the recent protests: I think the protests that we have now are more of a critical mass as opposed to just spontaneous pop-ups in certain parts of the country. It might not be active everywhere, but this is a demand for real change — none of that, you know, symbolic gesture-madness that they try to push: ‘We’ll make a new no-chokehold rule’’ and all of that other stuff. They actually need to change laws.
We’re not just talking about attacking police brutality. We’re talking about the system in its totality. That’s elected officials and other appointed officials who make the policies, laws, and rules that enable the police to do what they do.
What you want to accomplish: There are always specific goals because this is about pitching people who would get mad at you. You can’t protest without making a whole piece of it being about education. I mean, if you leave a protest and you don’t know half the people you stood next to, you’re part of the problem.
My responsibility to Black Lives Matter Houston is to make sure people know who to be mad at. [They should] be mad at their elected officials, everything from the governor down to the city council members because each can make rules and ordinances and policies that could change the trajectory of our people. People don’t really understand that. And when I say people, I mean white people.
This is about not just making policy, but enforcing the policies — and to have the bodies or entities that are there so it happens. Different agencies have inspector generals, departments where people can go and whistleblow. I think we need to take that a step further. We need to have people on advisory boards that are not political appointees, that have subpoena power, who are able to hold people to the mat. Hold people’s feet to the fire. I don’t think we have enough of that now. That’s why there’s been a lot of protesting. Because it’s not just George Floyd. It’s Breonna Taylor, and the six people who were murdered here.
Whether the coronavirus pandemic has shaped these protests: The medical system has been dismantled over the last 10 years. After we got the Affordable Care Act — even though it wasn’t perfect — people had some home health care. You’re telling the people to stay home, don’t wear a mask — and then you tell them to wear a mask, and when they wear a mask they go to the store they get accosted for wearing the mask and have to justify why they’re buying a gallon of milk. Racial profiling — you know, just the whole imagery and whole ideology toward black people is a problem.
A lot of us have watched family members die. You can definitely see the haves and the have-nots out of the situation. So when you tell somebody to stay home, [somebody] who gets laid off from their low-paid minimum wage job, has kids. [You tell somebody], “Oh yeah, you should cook at home,” but you’re living in a food desert and the only grocery store ... the items that they sell are not exactly healthy. What are you promoting to us? There’s these connections that talk about overall approaches, and how we’re treated economically as well as by law enforcement that needs to be recognized. I don’t think people talk enough about that.
Where the protests go from here: I don’t know how long they’ll go, but I just know that they’re not stopping anytime soon. And I wouldn’t stand in the way of it. Because it makes people uncomfortable. It makes people uncomfortable.
Anyiwei Maciek, One Fargo: “I think that change is going to come”
22, Fargo, North Dakota
What you set out to accomplish: The original March that was on Saturday [May 30 in Fargo], it was created a couple days after George Floyd’s death happened. Me and my friend Morgan, who is actually white, we were just Snapchatting and she commented, and we were just talking about how sad it was. We brought up the Ahmaud Arbery case and I was like, this is so messed up that we were talking about this three weeks earlier, me and you, about how this is not okay.
North Dakota has kind of stayed really like silent, and that made me start realizing that race is kind of a taboo thing that we don’t really even talk about here. And [my friend Morgan] was like, yeah, I completely agree. And I’m just like, do you think if I created a march any people would show up? When I did it, I had the thought in mind that it would probably be 30 people that showed up. I honestly did not think it would get as big as it did.
Fargo cannot just stay silent this time. We can’t just say “rest in peace” and “hashtag Black Lives Matter” and move on like this. [George Floyd’s death] literally happened three hours away from us.
Have the protests changed what’s possible: After the protests, we kind of sat back and were like, okay, it can’t just stop as a protest. We’ve had people come say, Hey, I’m so happy that you guys did that protest. It’s about time someone like talks about the racism that’s here in Fargo. So many people were telling us that. This just can’t stop here.
We definitely need to talk about police reforms and the different things that can get the entire citizens of Fargo — not just white and black, but everybody — to feel comfortable and safe around police officers. I’ve talked to numerous people who have said that if something happens, they don’t even file a complaint anymore with the police because the police don’t really follow up or sometimes, they don’t even write a report. That’s something that needs to be changed and that needs to change now.
What challenges you face: A lot of the threats that we’ve been getting, talking about racism you do get that crowd that’s not really for it. White supremacists and people like that. Those have been kind of scary — but the amount of support and love that we’ve been getting has outweighed all of that.
Where do you see the protests going: I don’t want to condone the rioting and looting, but I think [something changed] once it turned to that, once people saw Minneapolis burning down the police precinct and burning down the city — basically seeing how much the city hates the police department. All the other cities, they’re really starting to realize the power that their citizens have. They might start doing police reforms. Some states are trying to defund the police. I think a lot of changes are about to come, that’s why it feels totally different. Because I don’t think we’ve ever even talked about defunding police in such a massive way prior to this. I think even the fact that that’s a topic — I think that change is going to come.
Briana Perry, Black Lives Matter Memphis: “Win these demands and really push for this new world we’re all just imagining”
28, Memphis, Tennessee
What did you set out to accomplish: The official Black Lives Matter Memphis chapter has been around for almost five years now. What we are still seeking is very much so tied to the work that we’ve been doing on the ground for years.
We have two campaigns at the chapter. One is around ending money bail and the other around ending pretrial detention.
And so that is what we’re calling for right in this time. This call for defunding the police — it’s very much so rooted in that, and thinking about how are we investing money and resources into social services. As a part of our end money bail campaign, the tactic we use is a bailout.
Since 2017, we’ve participated in the Black Mama’s Bailout. We also do like Juneteenth and Father’s Day bailouts. We pay in full — we don’t use bail bonds. Through this tactic we’re highlighting the injustices of the money bail system because there are so many people who are sitting in jail right now, pre-trial, simply because they cannot afford to pay bail. Most folks don’t have $20,000, so that’s what we do, we pay that, we pay their bail and we also provide them with supportive services. Because what we know to be true is that in order to curb recidivism and contact with the criminal legal system is providing people with the resources that they need to survive and thrive.
We’ve just really seen the lack of supportive services infrastructure. There is no infrastructure for formerly incarcerated folks. And so for us, shrinking the police, jail, and prison budgets and investing money into social services, community services, is always something that we’ve been interested in and have pushed for and continued pushing for in the midst of these protests
Why the protests are happening now: It’s definitely a culmination of years and years of organizing and definitely tied to the work that we’ve been doing with BLM for years.
I think about the generations and generations of systemic racism and systemic oppression and all of these experiences that we’ve been — that black folks have had for, again, generations and generations and generations, and I would say that the pandemic has highlighted and unearthed a lot of those oppressions.
We’ve seen like how black folks have been impacted by Covid-19 in various ways and the risk factor or the issue is racism. It is a white supremacy. We see all the ways, the myriad of ways that black lives have always been devalued. We really see that in this moment. Even though we’re thinking about police violence, it highlights all the ways that black people for centuries have been devalued in this country. And, for me, it is a result of pushing and organizing for years.
What challenges have you faced: Definitely the challenge was of work in the South, of being like overlooked and devalued. I’m really happy that I do work here, and I think that the South is often overlooked. In a lot of different ways, whose stories are uplifted, often times it is like people like in the North on the East Coast and the West Coast.
And resources, money — they don’t make their way to the South. But there’s amazing work that’s being done in the South, and that has been done in the South for generations. And we’re up against so much here. Just centuries of endemic racism and oppression — that’s true for the rest of the country, but also thinking about in the aftermath of Jim Crow laws, and those things being very specific to the South. The fact that the South also has been the testing ground for a lot of like harmful things. That’s just to say there’s a lot of things that happen to the South. There’s a lot of very powerful organizing here, that has always happened in the South. And so that’s a challenge I want to highlight, too.
Definitely people trying to shift the messaging or change it. Some people, maybe it’s an introduction. [Organizers] are like, hey, we’ve been calling for these things for a while. This is the message. I think another challenge is people trying to shift the messaging, or like shift what we mean by certain demands, and it’s like no, we’re clear. We’ve been very clear for years.
But again, we’ve been doing it for years and we’ve been clear on what we mean and what we’re pushing for. I want to be clear, because I’m not necessarily right now thinking about new folks coming to the movement and being energized. Let me say that there are elected officials and people in power who are trying to appear to be progressive. I want to say that that is who I’m thinking about. [Those who say], Oh, of course, sure Black Lives Matter and moving beyond just saying that and taking what we’re saying and have been asking for in our demands as a practice and not trying to water it down
Where the protests go from here: I think that this is a ripe opportunity for one, people being politicized. A lot of folks are joining in. I also am very excited about the young people — there a lot of young people who are in Memphis and also nationwide who are leading these protests, who are leading these conversations. What it looks like to affirm young people’s leadership, I’m looking forward to that.
And also with just some of the demands that I shared earlier. I think that there could be some energy around ending money bail and pretrial detention. This is a fight that is going to be a statewide fight. Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer introduced a resolution to decrease the police budget and like reinvest those funds in other ways including education and health care. Unfortunately it didn’t pass, but I do think it is an opportunity to build on that and pushing folks to defund the police, shrink those budgets and invest that money into black communities. There should be more of a conversation and more action around it.
And nationwide, similarly. I think there are a lot of cities that are being very bold and pushing further demands around defunding the police. We see the results. They’re happening. We’re seeing what’s happening in Minneapolis. We’re seeing other places thinking about disinvestment [in police]. We see that in different parts of the country. It’s definitely an opportunity for us to continue to build power and to win these demands and really push for this new world we’re all just imagining.
This is also something that I’ve been thinking about: what we’re trying to dismantle, what we’re trying to get rid of, and also what we’re trying to build, right? We’re trying to be these sustainable and thriving communities, where communities have access to the full spectrum of health care without discrimination and judgment. I’m a reproductive freedom person, that is my paid job, so I do want to highlight that, too. Access to clean water, access to education, all of these things that we know that are human rights and that communities need to thrive.


vox--2020-06-16--The Supreme Court’s new decision could sink Trump’s anti-LGBTQ agenda

Life comes at you fast .
On Friday , the Trump administration finalized a regulation permitting health providers to discriminate against LGBTQ patients .
Three days later , the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County , which casts the legality of this regulation into serious doubt .
The Court ’ s decision in Bostock does not raise significant clouds of doubt over the new health care regulation alone : Trump ’ s education department also opposes anti-discrimination protections for transgender students , but education discrimination against LGBTQ students is now likely to be held @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , which bans discrimination “ because of ... sex , ” is broad enough to forbid workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity .
If an employer “ intentionally relies in part on an individual employee ’ s sex when deciding to discharge the employee ” or “ if changing the employee ’ s sex would have yielded a different choice by the employer , ” then an employer violates Title VII , according to Bostock .
For example , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ date and have sex with women , but doesn ’ t permit female employees to do the same , then it engages in forbidden sex discrimination .
But Title VII is hardly the only federal law prohibiting sex discrimination .
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 provides that “ no person in the United States shall , on the basis of sex , be excluded from participation in , be denied the benefits of , or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the basis of sex by “ any health program or activity , any part of which is receiving Federal financial assistance.
” As a practical matter , these two provisions apply to nearly all public schools , colleges , universities , and hospitals , because nearly all of those institutions receive federal assistance of some kind — such as through student financial aid or through Medicare and Medicaid .
Bostock , in other words , strongly suggests that neither educational institutions nor health care providers may discriminate against LGBTQ individuals .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration ’ s new health care regulation should fall .
Indeed , it is likely that lawyers challenging anti-LGBTQ discrimination by schools and health providers are already notifying judges of the Court ’ s decision in Bostock — and that other lawyers are already preparing new lawsuits hoping to strike down the new health care regulation .
Both the Affordable Care Act and Title IX ban discrimination “ on the basis of sex.
” Although this language is different from the statutory language in Bostock , which forbids discrimination “ because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has indicated that the words “ on the basis of ” and “ because of ” have the same meaning .
In Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools ( 1992 ) , for example , the Supreme Court held that Title IX ’ s ban on discrimination “ on the basis of sex ” imposes the same duty to avoid sexual harassment that Title VII imposes on employers .
Similarly , in Safeco Ins .
Co. of America v. Burr ( 2007 ) , the Court considered an amendment to a federal law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from “ because of ” to “ based on.
” But the Court concluded that this amendment did not matter because “ there was no indication that this change was meant to be a substantive alteration of the statute ’ s scope.
” Until Bostock , however , the meaning of the word “ sex ” was hotly contested .
Though the Court briefly considered a case brought by a trans plaintiff challenging discrimination by a public school district , the Supreme Court punted that case back down to a lower Court .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ direct pronouncement on whether anti-LGBTQ discrimination constitutes “ sex ” discrimination .
The Obama administration read Obamacare ’ s ban on discrimination “ on the basis of sex ” broadly and similarly to the way that the Supreme Court interpreted the word “ sex ” in Bostock .
The Trump administration ’ s new regulations , by contrast , read the word “ sex ” much more narrowly .
The Trump administration claims that its narrow interpretation reads Obamacare “ according to the plain meaning of the word ‘ sex ’ as male @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” When a federal statute is ambiguous and can reasonably be interpreted in multiple ways , the Supreme Court ’ s decisions permit federal regulators to choose from among those reasonable interpretations .
But Bostock eliminates any ambiguity regarding the meaning of the word “ sex.
” It has now been firmly established by the Supreme Court of the United States that a ban on “ sex ” discrimination also bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity .
Bostock , in other words , should establish once and for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provider may discriminate against LGBTQ individuals — at least if they wish to receive federal funds .
The trans military ban may still survive There is , however , at least one part of the Trump administration ’ s anti-LGBTQ agenda that is likely to survive contact with the courts .
In 2017 , Trump announced his intention to prohibit transgender service members from openly serving in the military .
Although some lower courts struck down this ban , the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to temporarily reinstate the ban .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it often defers to the elected branches on questions relating to the military or to national security .
Indeed , in Rostker v. Goldberg ( 1981 ) , the Supreme Court permitted the Selective Service System to engage in sex discrimination .
So Rostker suggests that this administration might enjoy similar deference if it wishes to discriminate against transgender service members .
Outside of the military , however , Bostock is a sweeping decision with implications stretching far beyond employment discrimination .
Though the trans military ban may survive , much of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agenda is in serious trouble after Bostock .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
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Life comes at you fast.
On Friday, the Trump administration finalized a regulation permitting health providers to discriminate against LGBTQ patients. Three days later, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which casts the legality of this regulation into serious doubt.
The Court’s decision in Bostock does not raise significant clouds of doubt over the new health care regulation alone: Trump’s education department also opposes anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, but education discrimination against LGBTQ students is now likely to be held illegal after Bostock.
Bostock held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination “because of ... sex,” is broad enough to forbid workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. If an employer “intentionally relies in part on an individual employee’s sex when deciding to discharge the employee” or “if changing the employee’s sex would have yielded a different choice by the employer,” then an employer violates Title VII, according to Bostock.
For example, if an employer permits male employees to date and have sex with women, but doesn’t permit female employees to do the same, then it engages in forbidden sex discrimination.
But Title VII is hardly the only federal law prohibiting sex discrimination. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 provides that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The Affordable Care Act similarly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex by “any health program or activity, any part of which is receiving Federal financial assistance.”
As a practical matter, these two provisions apply to nearly all public schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals, because nearly all of those institutions receive federal assistance of some kind — such as through student financial aid or through Medicare and Medicaid.
Bostock, in other words, strongly suggests that neither educational institutions nor health care providers may discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. If that’s the case, the Trump administration’s new health care regulation should fall.
Indeed, it is likely that lawyers challenging anti-LGBTQ discrimination by schools and health providers are already notifying judges of the Court’s decision in Bostock — and that other lawyers are already preparing new lawsuits hoping to strike down the new health care regulation.
The new anti-LGBTQ rules, briefly explained
Both the Affordable Care Act and Title IX ban discrimination “on the basis of sex.” Although this language is different from the statutory language in Bostock, which forbids discrimination “because of ... sex,” the Supreme Court has indicated that the words “on the basis of” and “because of” have the same meaning.
In Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992), for example, the Supreme Court held that Title IX’s ban on discrimination “on the basis of sex” imposes the same duty to avoid sexual harassment that Title VII imposes on employers. Similarly, in Safeco Ins. Co. of America v. Burr (2007), the Court considered an amendment to a federal law that changed the language of a statute from “because of” to “based on.” But the Court concluded that this amendment did not matter because “there was no indication that this change was meant to be a substantive alteration of the statute’s scope.”
Until Bostock, however, the meaning of the word “sex” was hotly contested. Though the Court briefly considered a case brought by a trans plaintiff challenging discrimination by a public school district, the Supreme Court punted that case back down to a lower court. Bostock is the Court’s first direct pronouncement on whether anti-LGBTQ discrimination constitutes “sex” discrimination.
The Obama administration read Obamacare’s ban on discrimination “on the basis of sex” broadly and similarly to the way the Supreme Court interpreted the word “sex” in Bostock. The Trump administration’s new regulations, by contrast, read the word “sex” much more narrowly. The Trump administration claims that its narrow interpretation reads Obamacare “according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.”
When a federal statute is ambiguous and can reasonably be interpreted in multiple ways, the Supreme Court’s decisions permit federal regulators to choose from among those reasonable interpretations. But Bostock eliminates any ambiguity regarding the meaning of the word “sex.”
It has now been firmly established by the Supreme Court of the United States that a ban on “sex” discrimination also bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Bostock, in other words, should establish once and for all that no educational institution or health provider may discriminate against LGBTQ individuals — at least if they wish to receive federal funds.
The trans military ban may still survive
There is, however, at least one part of the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ agenda that is likely to survive contact with the courts. In 2017, Trump announced his intention to prohibit transgender service members from openly serving in the military. Although some lower courts struck down this ban, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to temporarily reinstate the ban.
It’s likely that the Court did so because it often defers to the elected branches on questions relating to the military or to national security. Indeed, in Rostker v. Goldberg (1981), the Supreme Court permitted the Selective Service System to engage in sex discrimination. So Rostker suggests that this administration might enjoy similar deference if it wishes to discriminate against transgender service members.
Outside of the military, however, Bostock is a sweeping decision with implications stretching far beyond employment discrimination. Though the trans military ban may survive, much of the rest of the Trump administration's anti-LGBTQ agenda is in serious trouble after Bostock.


vox--2020-06-16--Rep. Jim Clyburn has been here before

Rep. Jim Clyburn has been here before

Rep. Jim Clyburn has been here before , not only during the civil rights movement in the 1960s but also more recently , when Walter Scott , an unarmed black man , was shot to death in North Charleston as he ran away from a white police officer on April 4 , 2015 .
That was just two months before a white gunman murdered nine black worshippers in a Charleston church .
It was a low moment for the country , and now , in Clyburn ’ s eyes , things have descended even further .
“ Have we made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” he says .
“ I would have to really , honestly believe that there ’ s been more retrogression.
” In recent weeks , mass demonstrations have broken out across the country in protest of police brutality and structural racism in response to the killings of George Floyd , Breonna Taylor , and Ahmaud Arbery .
State and local governments are struggling to respond .
Congressional action is uncertain .
The president is flailing .
Amid the turmoil , Clyburn ’ s is an important voice .
Clyburn , 79 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement .
He was one of the early organizers of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) , where he first met Rep. John Lewis , and has been in Congress since 1993 .
( Clyburn also met his late wife , Emily , in jail for protesting . )
As majority whip , he is now the third-ranking Democrat in the House .
He is a force in South Carolina politics , and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential campaign was a decisive force in swaying voters in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vox spoke with Clyburn last week about his views of the current moment , how this compares to times past , and where he does — and doesn ’ t — think the path to progress lies .
Clyburn is outspoken about disagreements he has with those to both his left and his right .
He worries the current protests risk being “ hijacked ” by more radical elements that could undermine the movement ’ s momentum and create backlash , which is what he feels happened with SNCC in the 1960s .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in South Carolina , “ nobody threw a single brick , nobody burned down a single building.
” But he also believes that President Donald Trump is to blame for much of the current chaos .
“ What ’ s the difference ?
The difference is leadership , ” Clyburn told Vox , referring to the reaction to the murders in South Carolina five years ago .
“ If Trump had been president when that had gone on , I think you ’ d be having back then what you ’ ve got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ built upon black folks being enslaved and white folks being free ” The day Vox spoke with Clyburn , he had just wrapped up a press conference with the Congressional Black Caucus and other congressional Democrats unveiling a new police reform bill .
The legislation would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants at the federal level and put in place incentives for state and local governments to follow suit .
It would also put an end to qualified immunity , which gives public officials , including police officers , immunity from civil lawsuits .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ graduated with a degree in history , emphasized the significance of America ’ s racial context in thinking about the legislation .
“ With few exceptions , white people came to this country willingly in search of a new world , full of liberty and justice for all .
With few exceptions , black people came to this country against their will — chained , shackled — and came to these shores enslaved and stayed that way for 244 years .
Think about how long that is , how many generations that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ Eight minutes and 46 seconds , that ’ s a long time to be on one knee .
But for 244 years , there are plenty of knees on the necks on blacks who came to this country.
” In our conversation , he invoked the same anecdote .
“ That ’ s why we ’ ve got to restructure , ” he said , “ because the current structure was built upon black folks being enslaved and white folks being free , and we ’ ve got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restructure ” is important .
On a conference call with Democrats in March discussing the coronavirus response , Clyburn said the moment was a “ tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.
” Some Republicans seized on his remarks as evidence Democrats were seeking to overstep in pandemic legislation to put other policy priorities in play .
Sen .
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to the remarks in a speech on the Senate floor .
“ This is not a political opportunity , ” he said .
Clyburn is still irked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pledge of allegiance ] ends with this country ’ s vision , ‘ with liberty and justice at all.
’ That ’ s the vision for this country .
What I was saying on that phone call was that this is a tremendous opportunity for us to restructure this health care system to fulfill that vision , that ’ s what I was saying , ” he said .
“ What the hell is wrong with that ?
” He reiterated the policy point .
“ We ’ ve got a tremendous opportunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be accessible for all , to restructure our educational system so our little children won ’ t lose a second year of school , to restructure infrastructure so that broadband will be as much a part of infrastructure as roads and bridges , to restructure our judicial system , ” he said .
“ That ’ s what this is all about , to restructure .
I ’ m not backing away from that .
I don ’ t care what Mitch McConnell says.
” Clyburn ’ s version of restructuring is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face value , including right now .
Amid the Floyd protests and renewed attention to police violence , the South Carolina Democrat has made waves with some of his comments .
He has chafed at the “ defund the police ” movement , saying he worries the call will be coopted by political opponents and arguing that departments need to be restructured and reimagined .
He has also expressed concerns that small groups of protesters who loot or destroy property will “ hijack ” the momentum around current reforms .
Part of Clyburn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his experience during the civil rights movement and disagreements within the SNCC about tactics .
In the mid-1960s , the group fractured over debates about its commitment to nonviolent tactics , and eventually , Lewis stepped down from its leadership and was replaced by Stokely Carmichael , who was more confrontational in his activism .
“ John Lewis and I often talk about how SNCC got hijacked .
We were getting off the back of the bus , we were sitting down at lunch counters , and all of a sudden , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a rallying cry all around us , ‘ Burn baby burn , ’ ” Clyburn said .
His feelings about the current protests appear to stem from his experiences then .
“ The same elements are trying to hijack this movement , ” he said .
Beyond the remnants of decades-old tactical struggles , some Democrats , Clyburn included , have also expressed concern about the growing call to “ defund the police.
” While many of the ideas and reforms its proponents back are very popular , the slogan in itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is nuanced — and the idea means different things to different people — but Republicans appear eager to weaponize the call , regardless of the details .
Minneapolis ’ s city council has pledged to dissolve its police department and create a community-led public safety system in its place , which Clyburn said he believes is the right move .
“ They are right to close that department down .
It ’ s a cesspool , ” he said .
But he stressed that he doesn ’ t stand for defunding all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , saying that he ’ s proud of the way many of his local police departments are run .
Clyburn ’ s pushback against the “ defund the police ” movement has garnered criticism .
Just scrolling through the replies to one of his tweets about the matter , you can see the backlash .
And the politics of black people , including black Democrats , is hardly a monolith .
On the ideological scale , he ranks somewhere near the middle , leaning slightly more conservative , among congressional Democrats .
Many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progressive than people of his generation .
The Congress member ’ s concerns appear to be driven , at least in part , by his own fears about the political implications of the phrasing .
“ I think all of us know that sound bites tend to get interpreted in all kinds of ways , and if you ’ ve got to explain the sound bite , you ’ re losing the whole issue , ” he told the Washington Post .
Clyburn links much of the current turmoil to the president Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fifth anniversary of the Charleston church shooting .
Clyburn and his daughter put together a video for the Cynthia Graham Hurd Foundation , a literacy organization founded in honor of one of the victims , and is participating in a Facebook Live commemorating the tragedy with the makers of Emanuel , a documentary about it .
He still keeps in touch with some of the victims and their families .
He has consistently pushed for the closing of the “ Charleston loophole , ” which allows gun dealers to sell firearms to people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than three days ; it ’ s how the gunman acquired the gun he used .
Legislation that would accomplish that has stalled in the Senate .
Clyburn , who has repeatedly called Trump racist , connects some of the white supremacist forces that motivated the Emanuel 9 shooter to the 2016 election .
“ They wanted to turn the clock back , and they went to work on turning the clock back , ” he said .
“ They succeeded in doing so with the election of Donald Trump , and from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ downwardly.
” He recalled when after the Charleston shooting , then-President Barack Obama spoke at the memorial service for Reverend Clementa Pinckney , one of the victims , and sang Amazing Grace .
He drew a contrast to the president ’ s reaction to the tragedies happening now .
“ The president started talking about snarling dogs and how much firepower he had to resist , ” he said .
The president ’ s instincts to lean into division over unity have been on full display in recent months , during both the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president has cast blame on anyone but himself for the country ’ s failure to get a handle on the coronavirus , and now , he ’ s turned to lashing out at demonstrations , floating conspiracies that they ’ re organized by “ ANTIFA ” and seemingly fanning the flames of tensions .
For many Democrats , including Clyburn , wrangling back power from Trump and from Republicans in the Senate is a top priority .
At the top of our conversation , Vox asked Clyburn whether he was optimistic about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is tempered .
For one thing , the US Senate is pumping through lifetime appointments for unqualified judges “ only because they profess an ideology that goes contrarian to the founding principles of the country , ” he said .
But for another , his energy is tempered by the judgment he ’ s seeing from some on the left .
He ’ d noticed some criticism online of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for kneeling in honor of Floyd ’ s killing and of Sen. Mitt Romney for joining a march over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sudden , people start criticizing .
And why are we playing their game ?
” he said , exasperated .
“ That ’ s Trump ’ s game .
No matter what happens , Trump ’ s going to find some reason to criticize .
And if you play that game on their turf , they win .
So why are we playing that game ?
I don ’ t understand this , I really don ’ t. ” Clyburn has been on Capitol Hill for more than 30 years , and this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He ’ s a political creature and a pragmatist .
Some of his positions are quite progressive , such as his years-long push for the 10-20-30 antipoverty program , which requires that a minimum of 10 percent of federal resources for some programs go to communities with poverty levels of 20 percent or higher over the past 30 years .
Others of his positions , at least today , are not .
He voted in favor of the 1994 crime bill .
When asked whether he thinks the current turmoil will impact the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ It all depends on whether the people of this country wake up , ” he said .
Clyburn , whose endorsement of Biden tipped the scales in the former vice president ’ s favor during the primary , will be an important surrogate in the weeks and months to come .
While Trump is unpopular with black voters , winning some over at the margins could make a difference .
Clyburn is worried about Trump ’ s attempts to appeal , specifically , to black men .
His message to them : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is for black people today ?
He asked what do you have to lose ?
Your job .
You see what is going on with health care , what has he done to the Affordable Care Act ?
He ’ s cut 90 percent of the budget for navigators to try to help sign people up , he cut the enrollment period down from 90 days to 45 days .
What do you have to lose ?
Your health care .
He has just told you that he ’ s got these dogs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s called in the National Guard to keep you in check .
What have you got to lose ?
Your freedom.
” Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
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Rep. Jim Clyburn has been here before, not only during the civil rights movement in the 1960s but also more recently, when Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, was shot to death in North Charleston as he ran away from a white police officer on April 4, 2015. That was just two months before a white gunman murdered nine black worshippers in a Charleston church.
It was a low moment for the country, and now, in Clyburn’s eyes, things have descended even further. “Have we made any progress in the last five years?” he says. “I would have to really, honestly believe that there’s been more retrogression.”
In recent weeks, mass demonstrations have broken out across the country in protest of police brutality and structural racism in response to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. State and local governments are struggling to respond. Congressional action is uncertain. The president is flailing.
Amid the turmoil, Clyburn’s is an important voice.
Clyburn, 79, is a veteran of the civil rights movement. He was one of the early organizers of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), where he first met Rep. John Lewis, and has been in Congress since 1993. (Clyburn also met his late wife, Emily, in jail for protesting.) As majority whip, he is now the third-ranking Democrat in the House. He is a force in South Carolina politics, and his endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential campaign was a decisive force in swaying voters in the state’s Democratic primary.
Vox spoke with Clyburn last week about his views of the current moment, how this compares to times past, and where he does — and doesn’t — think the path to progress lies.
Clyburn is outspoken about disagreements he has with those to both his left and his right. He worries the current protests risk being “hijacked” by more radical elements that could undermine the movement’s momentum and create backlash, which is what he feels happened with SNCC in the 1960s. He notes that after the 2015 killings in South Carolina, “nobody threw a single brick, nobody burned down a single building.”
But he also believes that President Donald Trump is to blame for much of the current chaos.
“What’s the difference? The difference is leadership,” Clyburn told Vox, referring to the reaction to the murders in South Carolina five years ago. “If Trump had been president when that had gone on, I think you’d be having back then what you’ve got now.”
“The current structure was built upon black folks being enslaved and white folks being free”
The day Vox spoke with Clyburn, he had just wrapped up a press conference with the Congressional Black Caucus and other congressional Democrats unveiling a new police reform bill. The legislation would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants at the federal level and put in place incentives for state and local governments to follow suit. It would also put an end to qualified immunity, which gives public officials, including police officers, immunity from civil lawsuits.
At the conference, Clyburn, who graduated with a degree in history, emphasized the significance of America’s racial context in thinking about the legislation.
“With few exceptions, white people came to this country willingly in search of a new world, full of liberty and justice for all. With few exceptions, black people came to this country against their will — chained, shackled — and came to these shores enslaved and stayed that way for 244 years. Think about how long that is, how many generations that is. It was a long time,” he said. “Eight minutes and 46 seconds, that’s a long time to be on one knee. But for 244 years, there are plenty of knees on the necks on blacks who came to this country.”
In our conversation, he invoked the same anecdote. “That’s why we’ve got to restructure,” he said, “because the current structure was built upon black folks being enslaved and white folks being free, and we’ve got to restructure.”
The emphasis on “restructure” is important. On a conference call with Democrats in March discussing the coronavirus response, Clyburn said the moment was a “tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.” Some Republicans seized on his remarks as evidence Democrats were seeking to overstep in pandemic legislation to put other policy priorities in play. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to the remarks in a speech on the Senate floor. “This is not a political opportunity,” he said.
Clyburn is still irked by the episode.
“[The pledge of allegiance] ends with this country’s vision, ‘with liberty and justice at all.’ That’s the vision for this country. What I was saying on that phone call was that this is a tremendous opportunity for us to restructure this health care system to fulfill that vision, that’s what I was saying,” he said. “What the hell is wrong with that?”
He reiterated the policy point. “We’ve got a tremendous opportunity to restructure our health care system to be accessible for all, to restructure our educational system so our little children won’t lose a second year of school, to restructure infrastructure so that broadband will be as much a part of infrastructure as roads and bridges, to restructure our judicial system,” he said. “That’s what this is all about, to restructure. I’m not backing away from that. I don’t care what Mitch McConnell says.”
Clyburn’s 1960s experience shapes his view now
Clyburn’s version of restructuring is not as radical as it may seem at face value, including right now.
Amid the Floyd protests and renewed attention to police violence, the South Carolina Democrat has made waves with some of his comments. He has chafed at the “defund the police” movement, saying he worries the call will be coopted by political opponents and arguing that departments need to be restructured and reimagined. He has also expressed concerns that small groups of protesters who loot or destroy property will “hijack” the momentum around current reforms.
Part of Clyburn’s hesitation appears to stem from his experience during the civil rights movement and disagreements within the SNCC about tactics. In the mid-1960s, the group fractured over debates about its commitment to nonviolent tactics, and eventually, Lewis stepped down from its leadership and was replaced by Stokely Carmichael, who was more confrontational in his activism.
“John Lewis and I often talk about how SNCC got hijacked. We were getting off the back of the bus, we were sitting down at lunch counters, and all of a sudden, we woke up one morning, and there was a rallying cry all around us, ‘Burn baby burn,’” Clyburn said.
His feelings about the current protests appear to stem from his experiences then. “The same elements are trying to hijack this movement,” he said.
Beyond the remnants of decades-old tactical struggles, some Democrats, Clyburn included, have also expressed concern about the growing call to “defund the police.” While many of the ideas and reforms its proponents back are very popular, the slogan in itself is not. Activists point out that it is nuanced — and the idea means different things to different people — but Republicans appear eager to weaponize the call, regardless of the details.
Minneapolis’s city council has pledged to dissolve its police department and create a community-led public safety system in its place, which Clyburn said he believes is the right move. “They are right to close that department down. It’s a cesspool,” he said.
But he stressed that he doesn’t stand for defunding all police departments or for abolishing policing altogether, saying that he’s proud of the way many of his local police departments are run.
Clyburn’s pushback against the “defund the police” movement has garnered criticism. Just scrolling through the replies to one of his tweets about the matter, you can see the backlash. And the politics of black people, including black Democrats, is hardly a monolith. On the ideological scale, he ranks somewhere near the middle, leaning slightly more conservative, among congressional Democrats. Many younger black Democrats tend to skew more progressive than people of his generation.
The Congress member’s concerns appear to be driven, at least in part, by his own fears about the political implications of the phrasing.
“I think all of us know that sound bites tend to get interpreted in all kinds of ways, and if you’ve got to explain the sound bite, you’re losing the whole issue,” he told the Washington Post.
Clyburn links much of the current turmoil to the president
Wednesday, June 17, will mark the fifth anniversary of the Charleston church shooting. Clyburn and his daughter put together a video for the Cynthia Graham Hurd Foundation, a literacy organization founded in honor of one of the victims, and is participating in a Facebook Live commemorating the tragedy with the makers of Emanuel, a documentary about it. He still keeps in touch with some of the victims and their families. He has consistently pushed for the closing of the “Charleston loophole,” which allows gun dealers to sell firearms to people if an FBI background check takes more than three days; it’s how the gunman acquired the gun he used. Legislation that would accomplish that has stalled in the Senate.
Clyburn, who has repeatedly called Trump racist, connects some of the white supremacist forces that motivated the Emanuel 9 shooter to the 2016 election. “They wanted to turn the clock back, and they went to work on turning the clock back,” he said. “They succeeded in doing so with the election of Donald Trump, and from that time, things have been cascading downwardly.”
He recalled when after the Charleston shooting, then-President Barack Obama spoke at the memorial service for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the victims, and sang Amazing Grace. He drew a contrast to the president’s reaction to the tragedies happening now. “The president started talking about snarling dogs and how much firepower he had to resist,” he said.
The president’s instincts to lean into division over unity have been on full display in recent months, during both the pandemic and now the protests. The president has cast blame on anyone but himself for the country’s failure to get a handle on the coronavirus, and now, he’s turned to lashing out at demonstrations, floating conspiracies that they’re organized by “ANTIFA” and seemingly fanning the flames of tensions.
For many Democrats, including Clyburn, wrangling back power from Trump and from Republicans in the Senate is a top priority.
At the top of our conversation, Vox asked Clyburn whether he was optimistic about the future. His optimism, he said, is tempered. For one thing, the US Senate is pumping through lifetime appointments for unqualified judges “only because they profess an ideology that goes contrarian to the founding principles of the country,” he said. But for another, his energy is tempered by the judgment he’s seeing from some on the left. He’d noticed some criticism online of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for kneeling in honor of Floyd’s killing and of Sen. Mitt Romney for joining a march over the weekend.
“All of a sudden, people start criticizing. And why are we playing their game?” he said, exasperated. “That’s Trump’s game. No matter what happens, Trump’s going to find some reason to criticize. And if you play that game on their turf, they win. So why are we playing that game? I don’t understand this, I really don’t.”
Clyburn has been on Capitol Hill for more than 30 years, and this is his second go as whip. He’s a political creature and a pragmatist. Some of his positions are quite progressive, such as his years-long push for the 10-20-30 antipoverty program, which requires that a minimum of 10 percent of federal resources for some programs go to communities with poverty levels of 20 percent or higher over the past 30 years. Others of his positions, at least today, are not. He voted in favor of the 1994 crime bill.
When asked whether he thinks the current turmoil will impact the 2020 election, Clyburn expressed uncertainty. “It all depends on whether the people of this country wake up,” he said.
Clyburn, whose endorsement of Biden tipped the scales in the former vice president’s favor during the primary, will be an important surrogate in the weeks and months to come. While Trump is unpopular with black voters, winning some over at the margins could make a difference. Clyburn is worried about Trump’s attempts to appeal, specifically, to black men.
His message to them: “You see what the unemployment rate is for black people today? He asked what do you have to lose? Your job. You see what is going on with health care, what has he done to the Affordable Care Act? He’s cut 90 percent of the budget for navigators to try to help sign people up, he cut the enrollment period down from 90 days to 45 days. What do you have to lose? Your health care. He has just told you that he’s got these dogs waiting for you if you demonstrate, he’s called in the National Guard to keep you in check. What have you got to lose? Your freedom.”