I am angry at the lack of indictment because it happened the night before the Massachusetts governor signed a historic executive order on environmental justice. Instead of being able to celebrate a five year long effort to get this executive order signed, our spirits were dampened by the reminder that as far as we have come, we have so much farther to go. It robbed us of the much needed pause to rejoice in our victories by throwing in our face that the struggle is not over.
I am angry at the lack of indictment because it demonstrates yet again that institutional racism is alive and well. It shows the lengths that people of privilege will go to maintain their privilege.
I am angry at the lack of indictment because it so obviously displays the vigorous resistance to the idea that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect AND that everyone must be held accountable for their actions.
Source: Khalaf, L. (2014). Police Actions Illustrated. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/linakhalaf4/status/502337829218033664
I am angry at the lack of indictment because I detest the manipulation of the law and that our legal institutions are structured in a way that allows the law to be manipulated in order to privilege powerful groups and continue to marginalize others.
I am angry because the lack of indictment is just the most recent in a long line of decisions that continue the oppression and domination of vulnerable groups of people. These include:
- Supreme Court decisions that gut the Voting Rights Act and allow the disenfranchisement of millions of people.
- Laws that sentence black and brown men to longer jail terms for possessing different forms of the same illegal substance.
- Policies that allow higher income women to take time off after birth or adoption but require impoverished women to work in order to receive increasingly less valuable social welfare support.
- Policies that allow undocumented women seeking protection from domestic violence to be deported.
One must have hope if we are to continue the struggle. What have we accomplished despite the rage against progress so clearly illustrated by the lack of indictment?
- Several municipalities and states have passed laws that allow all workers to have access to paid sick time off. That’s good for all of us.
- Many municipalities and states around the nation are increasing their minimum wage laws to better support the families of low income workers. That’s especially good for people of color, the elderly, and immigrants.
- At least two federal courts have found that law enforcement agencies can be held liable for unlawful detention if they comply with ICE detainers. These “requests” have been the primary way in which undocumented workers have been “caught” and sent for deportation. Some courts have also held that these detainer requests may be unconstitutional.
- Increasing numbers of municipalities are requiring body cameras on police officers. These small steps appear to change the behavior of police officers.
- And here in MA, our governor signed an Executive Order requiring that all executive agencies take seriously the issue of environmental justice, something ACE has been working on for over five years. This opens the door to more vigorous enforcement of environmental laws and a more equitable distribution of environmental benefits.
We did this.
Yes, it does not look good out there. In fact, it looks bad. But we’ve been here before. And we are not in the same place we were yesterday.
Governor Deval Patrick Signing Environmental Justice Executive Order
And so, let’s go. We still have work to do.
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