Read the full article from American Friends Service Committee, here.

George Floyd should be alive today. So should Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and many other people killed by police in the United States of America. The fact that they are not alive now is a testament to the deep need for change.

The U.S. was founded on slavery and genocide and has yet to fully reckon with that tragic legacy. A good place to start is by identifying and uprooting the system of white supremacy that devalues Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous lives. As a Quaker organization, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is inspired by the fundamental truth that there is human dignity in every single person. In order to live those values, we need to change our economies, schools, health care systems, and every institution in our society.

Perhaps no institutions play a more crucial role in upholding white supremacy today than the police and the criminal legal system. In cities and counties across the country, police encounters end the lives of people of color and trans and gender nonconforming people. The pattern is well-documented and indisputable. It is tragic. And it clearly has no place in our society or any society that values life and freedom.

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Henry Taylor

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