Communities of Color Are Organizing to Fight Back Against Abuses of Power
By Kat Redding
If you are a black man in America today, and you’re pulled over by the police for something as simple as a broken taillight, you are two and a half times more likely to die at the hands of the very people sworn to protect you.
Too many families here in South Bend, Indiana live that reality. My family is one of them.
My brother-in-law was killed by South Bend police in 1999. He and Eric Logan and too many others are the reasons why we need real solutions for police brutality in South Bend, and across America.
Police brutality is not a new problem. It has been a fact of life for generations of black men and women — and black children — who are forced to live in fear.
And it continues to happen because police are not held accountable for their actions. Because black communities are targeted by police. Because black people are denied justice.
Our Mayor Pete Buttigieg likes to talk a good game about police accountability when he’s on the campaign trail. One of his favorite stories is about how he was caught holding a joint in college, and let off with a warning. He rightly points out that this incident is an example of white privilege.
But, since he became mayor in 2012, black residents have been far more likely than white residents to be arrested for marijuana offenses. And that disparity is worse in South Bend than the rest of Indiana — or the rest of the country.
When it comes to holding the police accountable, Mayor Pete isn’t exactly a man of action.
We’re still waiting for our citizen review board.
We’re still waiting for anti-bias testing and updated bias training.
We’re still waiting for accountability.
But here’s the thing. We’re not sitting around and waiting for Mayor Pete to do the right thing.
We are organizing our community to take action. And in 2020, we will take action to elect candidates who will make real change. Who will ensure that black people in South Bend, and across the country, no longer have to live in fear.
We are organizing for justice for all.
