I appreciate the recognition of
Charlottesville as an important moment,
but we have to recognize that it's a
moment in a long series of moments that
it's part of a system here, right? And
that what we saw were some of, were
some of the most vile evidence of white
supremacy, racism, and kind of the
indoctrination of hatred in this country.
And yet, we see that act out every single
day in our criminal justice system, in
schools, on the street, in acts of protest--
the things that things that we're
protesting against. And so, I think it's
really important that we frame this
conversation properly, in a broader
system of white supremacy, that does
actually impact all of us, every single
day because it is systemic, it is
institutionalized, and it is woven into
the very fabric of this country from
policing, on down. The other thing that
the governor mentioned that I think is
really important for this conversation,
is about how much this starts in schools
and we often discuss the "school-to-
prison pipeline" and it is that phrase
has become very well-known, thankfully,
but the insidious ways in which this
acts out for young people every day, I
think we don't talk about enough. Because
it's not just about how quickly you can
enter the system as a child. It's also
about the ways in which you internalize
the idea that regular, normal, childhood
behaviors are indeed criminal-- and
they're especially criminal if you have
brown skin. They're especially criminal if
you are indigenous to this country. So, we
see African American and Native American
children far-surpassing all other
children in juvenile detention and
they're outpacing their
representation in this country. As the
governor mentioned, black students being
pushed into school suspension
and other disciplinary measures at
alarming rates, but it's also important
to recognize that the kind of training
that, not just police officers, but
teachers and principals, and other folks
are receiving doesn't actually cover a
lot of this stuff.
