20200605-001a: Recommendation to Council to publicly call for the community to stand in solidarity with the family of George Floyd — original pdf

Recommendation

COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Human Rights Commission Recommendation Number 20200605-001a: Recommendation to Council to publicly call for the community to stand in solidarity with the family of George Floyd WHEREAS, the Human Rights Commission of the City of Austin advocates on behalf of human rights for all people in the City of Austin and the broader community; and WHEREAS, recent events have heightened awareness of police killings of citizens. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Human Rights Commission recommends the Austin City Council to issue the following statement: FROM: The Mayor and Council of the City of Austin TO: The Citizens of Austin, Texas Just days ago, George Floyd was murdered. We are calling on the community to stand in solidarity with his family. Murder by police is the sixth leading cause of death among young Black men in America. We are calling on allies of communities of color to speak up in their spheres of influence. We are calling on people of color to continue to agitate and not give up until justice is served. The purpose of law enforcement is to protect and serve. Communities, and especially communities of color, can't trust law enforcement officers - who are paid with taxpayer money - to use their authority in an appropriate way if Black Americans keep dying at the hands of those who are paid to protect and serve. As much as things change, some things remain the same. There are social inequities, institutional racism, and just pure hatred alive and well in our society. These systems of inequities are allowed to thrive, and people are dying because of it. For every video clip we see, there are surely thousands of clips we do not, and the abuse of power has to stop! 1 Human Rights Commission Recommendation Number 20200605-001a The oppression and threat to Black lives is not only an atrocity that justifies outrage and unrest, but it is a human rights issue that reflects a toxic culture that perpetuates systemic racism and injustice. Police brutality and anti-Black racism is a public health emergency. During this COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen our communities of color suffer the most and there has not been any targeted intervention to prevent any further deaths or cases. Our Black and Brown communities are at constant threat for their lives. This is not the community Austin prides itself in being as welcoming and embracing. We need empathetic leadership that feels the pain our marginalized communities experience daily and just and equitable policies that do not discriminate against people based on their race, color and ethnicity. Our leadership must be accountable for all acts of discrimination, and we demand accountability. We need to actively address it in every sector- socially, economically, and environmentally. Our policies, laws, practices, and systems need to prioritize restorative justice to rectify the injustices that have been ingrained in our culture. We need a cultural shift, not only on a basic human level, but also on a systemic level that will benefit generations to come. Since the founding of our country, Black and Brown folks have been brutalized in the most inhumane ways imaginable. The murders of George Floyd and Mike Ramos by the police and the numerous transgressions by the Austin Police Department during recent protests are the highest profile offenses as of late. If we are to arrive at peace, the state must be held accountable for its acts of violence. We appreciate members of Austin City Council, Council Members Casar, Flanagan, Garza, and the leadership of Councilmember Natasha Harper-Madison in attempting to hold institutions accountable for said violence, and we condemn the failure of leadership by those who neglected the voices of 300-plus Austinites and instead decided to validate the very few dissenting voices at the June 4th, 2020 City Council meeting vote. Nothing has been done to make lives better after numerous school shootings, a peaceful protest of taking a knee by Colin Kaepernick, and numerous police shootings of members of communities of color. Nothing meaningful was ever done to Clive Bundy who forcibly took over a federal building, or to the racists who ravaged Richmond, VA. Sophia King (2002). Jesse Owens (2003). Daniel Rocha (2005). Kevin Brown (2007). Nathaniel Sanders (2009). Byron Carter Jr. (2011). Ahmede Bradley (2012). Larry Jackson (2013). David Joseph, Jr. (2016). Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Sean Reed. Steven DeMarco Taylor. Rekia Boyd. Eric Garner. Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Trayvon Martin. Atatiana Jefferson. Philando Castile. These names are among many members of the Black community whose lives were taken at the hands of the police. 2