RAD’s Statement on the Chauvin Verdict

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Our hearts are with the family and friends of George Floyd, who will finally see his murderer held accountable, and we hope that they can now find some peace and closure. Nearly a year after communities took to the streets demanding justice for George Floyd, this conviction is historic and long overdue, but we also know that it is nowhere close to enough. 

A guilty verdict cannot make up for the fact that George Floyd should be alive today. It cannot make up for a system in which the whole world watches a murder take place on video, and yet a conviction is not guaranteed, because the killer is a white police officer and the victim is a Black man. It cannot make up for the fact that in the time this trial took place, many more Black and Brown families were grieving for the loss of their loved ones’ lives taken by police. 

It cannot make up for the compounding traumas of a system of policing built on white supremacy, that has been designed to systematically oppress Black and Brown people across centuries. 

As our communities take in this historic moment, we invite people to rethink safety and to imagine a world where the police weren’t called in the first place. Too many others have not and may never know justice within a criminal justice system which is dependent upon policing to maintain itself. We will keep fighting for a system in which all of our neighbors can be free and safe from harm. We follow the leadership of the Movement for Black Lives in supporting the BREATHE Act, centered on divesting from this brutal system and reinvesting in alternative visions of public safety. This is our imperative if we are to achieve true justice and the thriving multiracial democracy we seek. 

Here’s how you can take action.

  1. Support activists in the fight for racial justice
  2. Follow and support Movement for Black Lives
  3. Sign and/or share the petition opposing the Divisive Concepts Amendment in New Hampshire