[Eric Logan\Our Revolution]
Geiger: “With uprisings sweeping the country in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders at the hands of racist police officers, it’s clear that systemic racism in law enforcement is an urgent national problem.”
Photo: Color of Change
Eric Logan, 54, another victim of racist policing was murdered by South Bend police officer Sgt. Ryan O’Neill.
After South Bend police murdered Eric Logan, I led my local Our Revolution and Black Lives Matter groups in demanding concrete action — a citizens review board, more implicit bias testing and training for officers, disciplinary action for officers who don’t turn on their body cameras.
Now, with uprisings sweeping the country in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders at the hands of racist police officers, it’s clear that systemic racism in law enforcement is an urgent national problem that our leaders have a moral obligation to do everything in their power to fix.
Across America, Our Revolution groups are mobilizing NOW to demand change at the city, county and state levels.
In the wake of all the senseless death, it’s heartbreaking that schools and social services are under-resourced in Black communities while police have access to high-tech military equipment and ever-increasing budgets.
That’s why I believe it’s necessary to defund part of policing budgets and redistribute it to create programs and services like child care and more social workers.
This means prioritizing funding for schools and public health above policing in Black communities the same way that we do for non-Black communities.
But that’s not all. We also must end qualified immunity — which shields police officers from accountability for their racist actions — and reform training and policing practices so that officers are equipped to do their jobs without striking terror into the heart of Black communities.
All of these changes are necessary, and as Our Revolution groups ramp up our organizing, we want your input on what you think are the most important steps to challenge systemic racism in policing.
Jordan Giger
Our Revolution National Board Member
Black Lives Matter Leader
South Bend, IN
