In Minneapolis four police officers ignored pleas from the public to stop asphyxiating George Floyd, who died handcuffed as one of them knelt on his neck for nine full minutes. This followed in short order the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia by a police officer and his son, and a shoot-first, ask-questions-later home invasion by a SWAT team in Kentucky which killed an 26 year-old EMT, Breonna Taylor. These murders were the last straw for many folks, and the country has erupted in protest which, in retrospect, should surprise no one.
Thoughts and prayers won’t cut it this time. Nor will “coming together” in somber candlelight ceremonies or church services. Apologies and introspection, song and prayer may be balm for the soul, but they do nothing to stop the unabated slaughter of black and brown men and women by America’s police. What we need now is to change our policies around law enforcement and mass incarceration — and we need to do it now.
Please join the NAACP New Bedford Branch tomorrow, Friday, June 5th at 6:00pm for a Zoom meeting entitled “Not an Apology, but a Policy.” Branch President LaSella Hall, Ph.D. will be joined by Rahsaan Hall, director of the ACLU’s Racial Justice program, Kyra Mitchell, Chair of the NAACP National Youth Works Committee, and Derek Baptiste, New Bedford Ward 4 City Councilor.
