Disability Law United condemns racialized police brutality, racist vigilantism, and white weaponization of law enforcement. So much to condemn; so much work to do.
Building on 400 years of racism and white supremacy in this country, this year has brought more shameful examples of racialized police brutality, including the recent murders at the hands of police officers of George Floyd (Black man), Breonna Taylor (Black woman), Tony McDade (Black trans man), Malik Williams (Black disabled man), and so many others on and off camera. This scourge plagues the entire nation, including Disability Law United’s home state of Colorado, where law enforcement murders of black men like Elijah McClain, Marvin Booker, Michael Marshall, and De’Von Bailey have not gained the national attention they deserve.
We have also seen the vastly different law enforcement response to people protesting these murders – in Minneapolis, Denver, and elsewhere – in contrast to the response to white people – often armed – protesting measures instituted to protect us from the pandemic. We condemn these actions and the racist and white supremacist system of which they are a part. We call on cities to hold their police departments accountable. We call on society to recognize and work to eradicate the white supremacy that underpins so many of our institutions and replace those institutions with processes not hardwired to overpolice and cage Black and Brown people.
Disability Law United also condemns the racist vigilantism exemplified by the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and white weaponization of law enforcement such as Amy Cooper’s attempted murder-by-cop of Christian Cooper, a Black birder in Central Park. These, too, are not isolated examples, but common products of a system that devalues and suspects Black lives and privileges white words and bodies.
We recognize that this time – like so many others – is difficult, traumatic, and stressful for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in this country, and we lift up these communities with love and respect – and the space these communities need to grieve.
We call on white Americans – and recognize that this includes Disability Law United’s white staff and board members – to recognize and work to dismantle the white supremacist system in which we live.
Please consider learning more about anti-racism and supporting and donating to those at the front lines of this current fight:
- Black Lives Matter
- Movement for Black Lives
- Law for Black Lives
- Circle of Mothers
- List of bail funds for protestors and others
By Disability Law United