Black Lives Matter

When Gov. O'Malley was pushed to acknowledge that black lives matter, he repeated a series of phrases several times: "Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter." He subsequently apologized, admitting that he "did not understand the tremendous passion, commitment and depth of feeling that all of us should be attaching to this issue." However, when Jeb Bush was asked about the incident at Netroots Nation, Bush doubled down on "all lives matter" and said O'Malley should not have apologized.

With Jeb Bush and Republicans piling on, it's important that we set the record straight about "all lives matter" so Democrats across the country understand why it's an inappropriate response to the Movement for Black Lives. When people like Bush insist on saying "all lives matter" -- in the context of a discussion about racism in the criminal justice system -- they are willfully refusing to acknowledge that our society doesn't actually treat all lives like they have equal value.

No one -- absolutely no one -- questions the value of the lives of white people in our society. When white people are killed, the media pays attention. The criminal justice system takes action. The public demands answers. The same simply isn't true when it comes to black lives. It hasn't been true historically, and it isn't true now. When black people die at the hands of the police, for example, our society makes excuses for the officers, character assassinates the victims, or just looks the other way far, far too often.

That's why Jeb Bush's "all lives matter" stance is exactly the kind of "color blindness" that allows structural racism to continue to fester unopposed. And if we are going to live up to our progressive core values of equality and fairness, it's up to us to stop hiding behind "color blindness" and address racial inequalities head on. That is precisely the problem the Movement for Black Lives is working to address.

We also need to stop assuming that economic justice alone will miraculously lead to racial justice. The reality is that racial inequalities are foundational to economic inequalities -- and that income inequality can not be solved without dismantling structural, systemic racism and the rampant discrimination that flows from it.
Even in a world in which income inequality did not exist, structural, systemic racism would still take black and brown lives. When police officers profile and pull over black people, it doesn't matter to those officers where those individuals went to college or how much money they make. It only matters that they are black. That prejudice is real and pervasive, and we will never be able to really fix our economic problems without ending it and the long list of disadvantages that spring from it.

That's why the big challenge facing our movement -- and the candidates who seek to lead us -- is in fighting oppressive power wherever it exists, from the Wall Street banks that are rigging our economy and destroying lives to a criminal justice system that is brutalizing black and brown people.

While Democracy for America and many other progressive organizations with largely white memberships haven’t been silent in fighting against racial injustice, there’s no doubt we must do more. Real solidarity means not just speaking out against racial injustice, but doing everything we can to connect the fight against structural racism to every aspect of the work we do.

After hearing the calls of our friends in the #BlackLivesMatter movement, that’s exactly what we intend to do. Here is what Democracy for America is committing to as an organization with a mission to elect more and better Democrats across the country:

• We will ask every single candidate who asks for our support what they have done, and what they will do to stand up alongside the Movement for Black Lives while confronting structural racism within our country's culture of white supremacy. As TIME magazine reported, this will apply to candidates running up and down the ballot -- from local and state level candidates to the 2016 Democratic presidential contenders.
• DFA will be working with campaigns to communicate with voters more often and more effectively about race by actively helping campaigns poll on racial justice issues and amplify messaging that takes on structural racism.
  • DFA will work to change the kind of candidates that run for office and win. We need elected leadership that reflects the full array of talent and lived experiences that America has to offer — that's why we intend to work even harder to recruit and support progressive people of color to run for office and win in 2016 and beyond.
  This is just the beginning of our process -- now we want to hear more about what you think. Click here to tell us what the progressive movement should do to proactively address racial justice, what you think about Democracy for America's decision to integrate a racial justice lens into our candidate endorsement process, and any new ideas you think we should also consider.
  This won't be easy -- and it will take a long time. But, working together, we can support the Movement for Black Lives, change the Democratic Party, push back on Republicans like Jeb Bush, win elections, and put an end to income inequality and racial injustice.
  
  Thank you for letting us know what you think.
  
  - Charles
  
  Charles Chamberlain, Executive Director
  Democracy for America