Congressman Chuy GarcíaVerified account

A thread The murder of George Floyd is a result of our country’s racist history—centuries of slavery and Jim Crow. For too long white supremacists and racists have controlled our police culture that treats Black and Brown individuals as less than human.

Not all officers are to blame, but we must root out racism in our law enforcement agencies. We know from experience there are forces that seek to divide us. We also know Black & Brown communities have achieved significant advances when we've worked together.

Instead of unifying a country in grief and resolve to achieve justice, President Trump and his sympathizers are intentionally stoking division and hate. They are strategically pitting Black and Latino communities against one another—a tactic we have seen before.

When the KKK & police forces tried to discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, they used ‘law and order’ as an excuse for brutality. When they sent ICE into our streets to rip children from their mothers, they used ‘law and order’ to justify the dehumanization of immigrant families.

Now, Trump is pulling a page from the old playbook of ‘law and order’ to pit Black and Brown people against one another. New decade, same playbook.

Instead of falling victim to instigated division, we must focus our energy toward dismantling a system maintained by white supremacy. That system, built on the premise that Black & Brown communities should settle for the breadcrumbs of society is fueled by distrust & division.