In her just-published platform, the President announced three key priorities: to eliminate racial bias in law enforcement and the federal justice system, to reform the criminal justice system to protect all people, and to protect civil rights.
Embracing the central tenets of the Black Lives Matter movement, President McCarthy directed the Justice Department to investigate racial bias in policing, courts, jails, and prisons across the nation with a focus on eliminating state-sponsored violence against people of color.
“‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,’” said the President in a statement, quoting James Baldwin. “Today,” she continued, “our nation is facing its long history of unfairly and systematically making people of color the target of state violence. We are facing this history, and we will change it, because we must.”
President McCarthy cited the fact that the United States locks up more people than any other country in the world. “It would be one thing,” said the President, “if by being the world’s most active jailer, we were making the public safer. We know that’s just not true. We must stop acting out of fear. Instead, we must offer a guarantee that law enforcement will offer equal protection to everyone in our country.”
The President concluded with a call to action for all Americans: “There’s a lot the government needs to do, but we’re going to need all of you to keep us accountable. It’s going to take the work of the entire community to dismantle systems of injustice oppression. So get involved. Black Lives Matter, Showing Up for Racial Justice, and other like-minded organizations need your support and your participation as we work together to transform our society, as we work to become truly one nation, with liberty and justice for all.”