Family Values @ Work Calls for the Reimagining of Policing in the Wake of the Derek Chauvin Verdict

(WASHINGTON, DC)––Family Values @ Work is a movement network of grassroots coalitions in more than two dozen states working to win paid family and medical leave, earned sick and safe days, and affordable, high-quality childcare at the state and national levels. Today, FV@W released the following statement on the verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder trial:

“The jury’s guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin is a rare instance of police being held to account for lethal violence against people of color and Black people in particular. We at Family Values @ Work hope that George Floyd’s loved ones find some comfort in the knowledge that his murderer was found guilty of the crime. We grieve the toll George Floyd’s murder and Chauvin’s trial have taken on Black communities, including the fact that the recording of this murder by Darnella Frazier, a 17 year old, was required for the truth to be heard. We hope that the verdict brings some sense of relief.

“FV@W welcomes this verdict as one small sign that a shift in public consciousness may be emerging. If so, that shift has been brought about by the insightful and courageous leadership of the Movement for Black Lives and allied activists who have come before us. We salute the transformative movement to dismantle white supremacy and we commit to solidarity in the work to be done to achieve real, lasting justice for Black people in this country. The police killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, which we learned of as we wrote this statement, shows how much work is still to be done.

“Our Minnesota partners at ISAIAH observe: “A single verdict cannot bring the kind of justice our communities deserve. True justice means we disentangle police from the idea of safety. We must fund our communities with the resources we know keep us safe and actually allow us to thrive. … Justice for George Floyd looks like every person, no matter their race or ZIP code, being safe to walk their streets.”

“We call on our local, state, and federal elected leaders to take immediate action to undo the policies and structures that allow and encourage brutality against Black people. Last year, FV@W signed on to a letter from a coalition of over 450 organizations calling for federal statutory reforms on a range of policing issues, including use of force, police accountability, racial profiling, militarization, data collection, and training.

“We need those statutory changes, but we also need to reimagine policing, community safety, criminal justice, and address the role of the prison industrial complex in perpetuating the devastating social, economic, and political legacies of slavery. And we need a collective cultural posture that values everyone in the dignity of their humanity. The Black Lives Matter movement and community organizations across the nation are generating solutions that can lead us to a safer, more just future.

“FV@W will continue to support our state and local partners in building power to challenge structures that stand in the way of equity, justice, and care.

“As our partners at TakeAction MN say, “The answer is us—all of us, being all in. We step into this moment with the energy of love, grief, anger and solidarity to move us forward. Our communities are already showing the way: building systems of justice, safety, and care. We are building a better way, and we got us.”

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Photo credit: Otto Yamamoto (via Creative Commons)