Warren says black lives matter
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) backed the Black Lives Matter Movement during a speech at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate last Sunday, arguing that economic justice will not and has never ensured racial justice.
Her address candidly challenged the current and historical trend among United States elected officials and political candidates on racism—many stray away from the issue altogether, while others like Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, argue racism and economic inequality are parallel issues.
“Owning a home won’t stop someone from burning a cross on the front lawn,” Warren said. Echoing what activists have been saying for decades, she maintained that it is time for this nation to stop ignoring racism and instead address it as a separate issue and actively work to put an end to it. Warren cited the Black Lives Matter Movement, sparked by young activists in the wake of the deaths of black teenagers Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, as an extension of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Warren added that “50 years after John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out, violence against African Americans has not disappeared."
She argued that black people’s fear of being killed and the resulting anger of the loss of innocent lives should be taken seriously. Furthermore, the movement should be validated instead of being challenged, and racially-motivated crimes, police brutality, and other racial injustices must be eradicated and prevented because the future of the nation depends on it. Warren ultimately contended that this is not
just a black issue, but also a white issue, and most importantly, a national and urgent issue.
She suggested police departments and policymakers work to meet the demands of activists by enacting new policies to stop racial profiling and police brutality. Some of these include putting body cameras on police officers and patrol car dashboards, ensuring that police forces come from the neighborhoods they serve, training officers on effective non-militaristic de-escalation methods, and obtaining special prosecutors for police killings, racial hate crimes, and terrorist acts like the South Carolina church shooting that killed nine people this summer.
Violence however, is only one racial issue. Political disenfranchisement and disparities in economics, education, and the criminal justice system continue to plague black Americans. Activists have not strayed from these issues either. As a result, 2016 presidential candidates are under an immense amount of pressure to develop cohesive and effective plans to end systemic racism, and for these plans to be popular enough to garner the support of activists and the greater black vote. Failure to do so could potentially cause Sanders, Hilary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and all the other candidates their seat at The White House.
“It is a tragedy when any American cannot trust those who have sworn to protect and serve,” Warren affirmed. Black Americans are increasingly growing distrustful of public servants, from police officers to presidential candidates. Warren ended her speech by insisting that these servants make a change that upholds equality and safety for black Americans.
