How to F#ck Up a Country in One Tory Lesson

Our armchair historian and openly British blogger reveals what he really thinks about Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his current government in the UK...

How to F#ck Up a Country in One Tory Lesson
by Coast Watcher

I’ll nail my colors to the mast and state that I favored Brexit. The European Union has a soft shell of socialist values layered over a hard core of capitalism. The UK and the EU are not compatible in their way of doing things, and the EU’s one size fits all policy is asinine at best, destructive at worst. The policy pays scant attention to national characteristics which leads itself to the strengthening of nationalist feelings and a push-back against the very ideals the EU is supposed to espouse. Recent challenges to EU laws have risen in Poland and Hungary as these nations clash with the EU over access to abortion laws and LGBTQ+ rights.

I'd hoped that the country of my birth would have enacted a decent and sensible plan to deal with their departure from EU and that necessary measures would have been put in place in a speedy fashion.

I was wrong.

The Human Cost of Brexit

The resultant fall-out from Brexit is an utter shambles. The ruling Tory party (first under David Cameron and currently under the shambolic Boris Johnson) seem hell-bent on turning the country into a right wing dictatorship, using the natural prickly post-Imperial conservatism found in a sizable minority of British people to push through laws which are not in their interest. They rely upon the average Brit’s knee-jerk reaction of bloody foreigners! to get support for the government in any international dispute. And people die as a result.

Recently, at least 27 refugees and asylum seekers died trying to cross the English Channel after their dinghy deflated and sank. It was the worst disaster on record involving migrants in the sea separating France and the United Kingdom. The famous and hard-working Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) helped rescue survivors. They’ve had to do so on numerous occasions before and since when refugees attempt to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in treacherous weather conditions. For this humanitarian duty, the lifeboat crews who risk their lives to save those in peril on the sea have been heckled and even received death threats from anti-immigrant persons.

The RNLI charity’s chief executive, Mark Dowie, has recognized that the migrant crisis is a “polarizing issue,” but lifeboat crews carry out “humanitarian work of the highest order.” Rescuers who are called out from bases along the Channel coasts of Kent and Sussex are faced with desperate situations, including “terrified and suffering children.”

Another volunteer spoke of one occasion when his lifeboat brought rescued migrants ashore. They were confronted by an angry mob who shouted, “Go back to France!” The crew member said, “It’s one of the most upsetting things I’ve ever seen. I can’t imagine what those families felt like, coming ashore to that after the night they’d had.”

In Hastings, the lifeboat was blocked from launching by an angry crowd of locals who shouted abuse at the crews. The incident resulted in the police being called, and rightly earned a backlash against the crowd on mainstream and social media.

De-Naturalization

A clause slipped into the Nationality and Borders Bill gives the British Home Secretary draconian powers to strip any person born in the UK of their citizenship, without notice if it’s not “reasonably practicable to do so.”

 
Frances Webber, Vice-Chair of the Institute of Race Relations, said: “This amendment sends the message that certain citizens, despite being born and brought up in the UK and having no other home, remain migrants in this country. Their citizenship, and therefore all their rights, are precarious and contingent.

“It builds on previous measures to strip British-born nationals (who are mostly from ethnic minorities) of citizenship and to do it while they are abroad, measures used mainly against British Muslims. It unapologetically flouts international human rights obligations and basic norms of fairness.”

Maya Foa, the director of Reprieve stated: “This clause would give (Home Secretary) Priti Patel unprecedented power to remove your citizenship in secret, without even having to tell you, and effectively deny you an appeal.”

The US government has condemned citizenship-stripping as a dangerous denial of responsibility toward a country’s citizens—although the Biden administration is guilty of doing virtually the same in cases involving deported undocumented immigrants who have underage children born in the US.

Northern Ireland

The affairs of this province remain as tangled as ever. Strong sectarian divides between Protestant and Catholic communities has subsided in the years since the Good Friday Agreements of 1998, ending centuries of strife. The peace negotiations were begun by then-Prime Minister John Major (probably the last halfway decent Tory PM Britain had, which really isn’t saying much, as his regime was mired in scandal after scandal) and finished under the successor regime of Tony Blair (who undeservedly took all the credit).

The mainstay of the agreements is the relaxing of border controls between Northern Ireland (Ulster) and Eire (The Republic of Ireland), which is in the EU. The contentious and divisive checkpoints were dismantled and peace descended upon the province for the first time. Now thanks to wrangling over the shipment of food products—mostly meat, eggs and poultry—between the UK and EU, those checkpoints may rise again, causing outrage and a renewal of nationalist feeling in the hard-line sectarian parties and communities. Violent disturbances have already occurred in Belfast and other cities.

The National Health Service

Last, but certainly not least, we come to the institution beloved by all British people—their national health service.

First authorized by Parliament in the 1946, the National Health Service Act began in 1948 and has served the UK population with easy, free at the point-of-use healthcare across the entire country. Administered and owned by the  government, it’s a cherished part of British life.

Naturally, the Tories hated it from the get-go. Much like the Republican Party of the US, the Tories have never met a public asset they didn’t want to sell off for private profit.

Former President Donald Trump (may he never rise again to molest the world with his dire presence) put pressure on the Tory government to allow US healthcare industry mavens to take part in directing NHS policy. This pressure is being maintained by the Biden administration. Blatant capitalists now sit on all the NHS boards at both the national and regional level, ensuring the smooth transfer of British public-owned assets into private corporate ownership. Tory Members of Parliament are under strict instructions to decry and deny any accusations of privatization. They’re even succeeding in whipping up pro-privatization sentiment among some sections of the British people.

How long this sentiment will last remains to be seen. Perhaps for some British people it’ll end when they’re required to pay £2,000 for an ambulance ride, similar to what many Americans are now billed. 

First P.M. Cameron, then Johnson, have followed the time-worn path of running down a public asset to the point where they can throw up their hands in mock despair and cry,  “Public ownership doesn’t work! We shall have to privatize this so it runs efficiently.”

In the case of the NHS, the Tories work on it by cutting its budgets in secret ways, instituting pay-rises that are well below the rate of inflation. They impose unrealistic “quotas” on staff that can never be met, thus resulting in burn-out and departure of valuable personnel. All this at a time with COVID-19 cases increasing in the UK.

The Tories continue to privatize parts of NHS services, such as methods for disposing dangerous medical waste. Instead of each hospital dealing with its own waste on site using special furnaces, the Tory government handed operations over to a private firm located in the English Midlands. Hospitals and clinics are now required to ship their waste to this facility across the national road system, with all the dangers that entails. Naturally the facility is unable to cope with demand, resulting in a dangerous medical waste piling up at hospitals across the UK.

In London, a specialist eye clinic was sold to billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. In one year it went from an Excellent rating to actively blinding patients. Another London clinic was likewise sold to Virgin Group, and within a year went from an Excellent rating to Failing.

Forty-nine other General Practices have so far been sold into private hands, and the Tory government stands on its hind legs and cries, “It’s more efficient!”

I won’t go into great detail over the Tory mishandling of the COVID crisis, averaging 48,000 cases a day at the time of writing, beyond to say that its policy currently seems to be to throw up its hands and say, “Well, what can you do?”

The Opposition

There isn’t one worth the name. Current Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) leader Sir Keith Starmer is another politician in the Tony Blair mold, a neoliberal who seems determined to lead his party as far to the right as he dare. The PLP is doing its level best to oust any true socialists still in its ranks. It has not restored the Whip position to former Leader Jeremy Corbyn. Expect no opposition worth the name from this quarter.

(In essence, the Whip is the means by which a party controls its membership. It ensures members vote the way the leadership wants and follows policy closely. It’s especially important to parties which do not have a majority in the House.)

Corruption

No Tory government member is ever far away from sleaze and corrupt practices. The provision of PPE and sanitizing equipment during the COVID crisis enabled Tory party members and donors to make out like bandits on the public purse. One of the most prominent scandals to date was that of now-former Minister Owen Paterson who was found guilty of accepting payments to advocate on behalf of two private companies. P.M. Johnson attempted to fix the scandal by pressuring his party to change the parliamentary rules governing such matters. Although he succeeded in doing so, the affair caused a massive public outcry and a rapid U-turn on Johnson’s plan.

And, of course, there’s that fine old British governing party tradition of selling titles for cash. Recently the Sunday Times reported that all but one of sixteen Tory Party treasurers over the last two decades had donated more than £3 million (roughly $4 million) to the Conservative Party, for which they were offered a seat in the Lords (the UK Parliament’s Upper House).

In Media Res

Of course, not everything is being reported by British mainstream media. According to information given by Claudia Webbe, MP for Leicester East:

    • 5 billionaires own 80% of UK press.
    • 3 companies dominate 83% of national newspapers.
    • 5 companies dominate 80% of the online market.
    • 5 companies own 80% of local titles.

Austerity Measures

Beloved of right-wing governments everywhere, austerity measures are yet another way of cutting public expenditure so more money can be given to the rich. In my most recent visit to the UK, I was appalled to see so many people sleeping rough (homeless) on the streets. Even provincial cities have many people without a roof over their heads.

And no, they’re all not “there deliberately” or because they drink or have mental health issues. The majority have lost their jobs and homes thanks to Tory policies which border on the vicious. The means-testing of people with disabilities is farcical. Even amputees are required to attend review boards every six months to see if their condition has improved. Funding for disabilities and social workers is cut to the bone and beyond, resulting in failures to deal in a fair and timely manner with those who need help most.

Conclusion

There is push-back against the increasing privatization of the NHS. There are people determined to make the UK a safe place for migrants to come to. It’s going to be a long uphill struggle, but it’ll be worthwhile. In the meantime world events move on. With climate change making an increasing impact on the peoples of earth, modern politics is looking increasingly like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The same-old, same-old conservatism is dangerous. Time to kick it into the long grass.

BIO: Coast Watcher is tired of watching his homeland being torn apart and sold in bits and pieces for the profit by a privileged few. He suggests that everyone, everywhere, take their grievances to the streets, strike, march in picket lines, and organize their workplaces to fight off the neoliberal menace of the privatization of public assets. Unlike what Prime Minister "Bo Jo" says, Coast Watcher says, "Health care is a human right!"

 

Related Articles:

https://www.indy100.com/news/hastings-rnli-lifeboat-blocked-migrants-b1966817

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-57999224

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/24/24-dead-after-boat-sinks-in-english-channel-french-mayor

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/17/new-bill-quietly-gives-powers-to-remove-british-citizenship-without-notice

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2541

https://www.khon2.com/international/france-lashes-out-at-britains-latest-proposal-on-migrants/

https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53724381

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***

I want to share some great news. As you already know, the Federal Election Commission is trying to force me to repay $175,000 in public matching funding we spent to get on the ballot - over 5 years after the end of the 2016 election. This decision, if allowed to stand, would be disastrous for the future of independent politics. But here’s the good part: Thanks to the outpouring of support we’ve already received, we’ve been able to bring two of the country’s leading democracy lawyers together on our legal team! Oliver Hall and Harry Kresky have each won critical legal fights for our democracy over the past two decades. Having them on our team gives us a fighting chance to win our case that is so critical to the future of independent politics in the United States. Oliver Hall is the Founder, Executive Director, and General Counsel of the Center for Competitive Democracy, which was founded in 2005 to strengthen American democracy by increasing electoral competition. Oliver and CCD have won critical cases for ballot access and competitive democracy across the country, including a major victory last week in Maine, overturning oppressive enrollment requirements that made it practically impossible for non-wealthy citizens to establish new political parties.  Oliver is also the author of “Death by a Thousand Signatures: The Rise of Restrictive Ballot Access Laws and the Decline of Electoral Competition in the United States”, a landmark paper shining a light on the establishment’s relentless assault on independent politics. Harry Kresky has years of experience fighting for the rights of independent voters and alternative parties. He has represented numerous insurgent and independent candidates seeking equal access to the ballot, and successfully defended Ralph Nader during the 2004 presidential race against efforts to remove him from the ballot in West Virginia and New Mexico.  Harry is also a co-author of a 2019 law review article: “Let All Voters Vote: Independents and the Expansion of Voting Rights in the United States.” This is a dream team for defending our 2016 campaign - and future campaigns outside the two-party establishment - from an unfair system that creates virtually insurmountable obstacles to political participation by low budget grassroots campaigns like ours. The right to vote requires not only an end to voter suppression. It also requires real choices for voters to choose among - not just the same corporate duopoly that has overseen the crises of climate collapse, crushing inequality and endless war that continue to deepen. With your help, we will continue fighting for the right to vote in all of its dimensions - including the right to political choices that are essential to democracy and our future that depends on it. Contribute All my best, Jill Stein Green Party presidential nominee 2012, 2016

PS. In case you didn’t see our previous email about why I need to fight back against the FEC, you can get the details at jillstein.net. *** From Friends of the Earth Dimples, the snowy white beluga whale, has called Cook Inlet, Alaska her home for many years. The endangered whale is a presumed mother. But soon, Dimples and her calf could become victims of Big Oil’s destruction. Take action now. Big Oil and Gas developers are pushing to build over 200 miles of oil and gas pipelines right through Dimples and her calf’s habitat. With less than 280 Cook Inlet Beluga whales alive today, this could mean extinction for the species.  You can help save Dimples and her calf. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is preparing to sell off Cook Inlet to the highest Big Oil bidder. But before BOEM makes the sale, they have to consider input from people like you. Will you send a message to BOEM right now and demand it cancel the sale? Tell the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to save Dimples from oil and gas developers!  Sign Now If you visit Lower Cook Inlet right now, you’d see miles of pristine blue water. Snowcapped mountains. Maybe even a brown bear hunting for fish or a beluga like Dimples poking her head above water. You might even catch a glimpse of a cuddly-looking puffin out for a swim. Now, imagine this: towering oil platforms block your view of the snow-capped mountains. The noise of fossil fuel development scares off the swimming puffin. The brown bear starves as its food source is diminished. The beluga whale is being driven to extinction. This devastating picture could become a reality if Cook Inlet is sold to Big Oil and Gas. The landscape of Lower Cook Inlet would never be the same again. And the wildlife could take decades to recover from Big Oil’s destruction -- if they’re lucky enough to survive.  Demand BOEM stop Big Oil and Gas from destroying Cook Inlet! Sign Now If Cook Inlet is sold to Big Oil and Gas, it’ll lock the area into 40 more years of fossil fuel pollution. Our planet cannot afford this at a time when we have less than 9 years left to avert climate catastrophe.  Big Oil and Gas are fighting hard to expand their polluting projects -- no matter the cost to people, wildlife, or the planet. I’m counting on you to fight back. Are you with me, C.A.? Sign your name: Demand the BOEM keep greedy polluters out of Lower Cook Inlet! Sign Now Standing with you, Hallie Templeton, Senior Campaigner, Friends of the Earth

The Price of Complacency

The Price of Complacency

by Coast Watcher

The British National Health Service (NHS) is rightly regarded as one of the jewels in the crown of public life. British people cherish their NHS service and will go to great lengths to avoid using it "unnecessarily." People have been known to take taxis to hospital when they are perfectly justified in using an ambulance, because they don’t want to "tie up an ambulance when somebody else could use it."

Founded in 1948, the NHS is administered by the government but is owned by the British people. It has provided healthcare for millions—yet its fate now hangs in the balance. The very government which is supposed to look after it on behalf of the nation is busily selling it off by stealth.

Yes. Much like the Republican Party of the United States, the Conservative (Tory) Party of Great Britain has never encountered a public asset it doesn’t want to sell off for private profit.

As someone with experience of healthcare on both sides of the Atlantic I can safely say the NHS is by far and away the better of the two. The first question asked in a British NHS hospital or doctor’s surgery (office) is "Where does it hurt?" and not "How are you paying for this?" There are waiting lists for procedures, but the patients will be treated, unlike the US, where they may be treated—if their insurance company gives the go-ahead.

In Britain ambulance journeys are free. Consultations are free. Decisions as to which treatment should be administered are entirely up to the medical professionals—not a death committee of insurance salespeople. Patients are not charged—let alone astronomical prices—for a single aspirin and boxes of Kleenex. Nobody in the UK goes bankrupt from medical treatment, unlike the US where 60% of all bankruptcies are due to unforeseen healthcare costs.

My elderly parents recently required the NHS to step up for them when my mother became ill with Alzheimer’s Disease. Carers were provided for her three times a day, every day, allowing my father to take a break. A special hospital bed was provided for her comfort and to make helping her easier for my father and the carers. Regular doctor’s visits took place throughout the course of my mother’s illness right to the end. And none of it cost my parents a penny.

Yet all this is slowly, subtly changing as the Tory government poison works its way through the British public healthcare system. There is even a small minority who advocate privatization of the NHS, presumably because they’ve been indoctrinated to think this way or stand to benefit from such an arrangement.

A friend of mine is an anesthetist at a university hospital in Britain. I was aware of his growing frustration at the insidious attack on the service so many Britons hold dear, so I wasn’t surprised when he wrote the following letter after witnessing a BBC attempt to whitewash the growing privatization of the NHS. His letter is as follows:

Dear Nikki Fox (BBC reporter),

I have just watched your feature on the above subject and have to tell you that you failed entirely to focus on the real cause of the massive increase in the NHS waiting times.

The NHS has been systematically underfunded for decades which has left it not only totally unable to deal with a pandemic but in a poor position to give patients the treatment they so desperately need.

While I realise that you have to edit such a feature, to have a Conservative MP say to viewers they have the right to choose their treatment but you did not mention that the voting record of Richard Bacon MP would show you that he has consistently voted against funding the NHS adequately, supported not paying its staff a proper and decent wage for what they do and promoted the government in its privatisation of the NHS.

To have this man, who has voted in such a way, to say it is people's choice in how they get their healthcare is galling considering that it is people like him that has forced members of the public to have to spend their pension and savings to get the treatment that they have already paid their National Insurance and should already expect such treatment.

The lack of funds to the NHS is not only due to inadequate funding but the stealth privatisation of the NHS by successive Conservative Governments has led to private companies making profit from patients suffering and ill health, money which could be better spent on treating patients in the first place.

Consistent poor pay rises, usually under that present rate of inflation, has led to not only some nurses needing to go to food banks, (the growth in the number of and use of food banks is another symptom of consistent Conservative Governments), but nurses and health professionals have left the NHS which has left the health service chronically understaffed and struggling even more to match the demands placed upon it.

The termination of the NHS bursary has also seriously affected recruitment in the NHS and the contract forced on junior doctors just increases the numbers leaving the country to practice in other countries.

Further to this the massive student debt incurred by nurses during their university education leaves them saddled with debt for decades and is not an incentive to enter the profession.

I would like to ask you, Nikki, directly why you do not cover any of these subjects in your features?

I have watched the John Pilger documentary The Dirty War on the NHS Why don't you cover the issues in that?

Simon Stevens, the NHS chief executive has a long history working for massive private healthcare companies, as do many other people in the higher echelons of the NHS. Why do you not voice concerns about this?

NHS GP practices have been quietly sold to a private health care company, 37 NHS GP practices have been sold to a private US health company (Centene) yet little is mentioned of this in the BBC news. Could you report on this please?

I find that the BBC news frequently bashes the NHS but never actually explains the real causes of what is happening in the NHS.

I have not touched on:

The Naylor Report and its effects on the NHS, lack of PPE at the start of the pandemic, the investigation before the pandemic which showed the NHS had inadequate PPE to deal with a pandemic, the many examples of cronyism where the Conservative government gave untendered contracts to individuals and companies which have close contacts with the Conservative party, including having made donations to the party, refusing to increase NHS salaries after real terms pay cuts for a decade, the hypocrisy of clapping for the NHS during the pandemic and refusing proper investment and salary increase, the lack of attendance of the Prime Minister at the initial COBRA meeting, (while he "holidayed" at his residence at Checkers), spending massive amounts of money on an unnecessary refurbishment of the Downing Street press room and 10 Downing Street itself when NHS staff are struggling with debt and visiting food banks, the protection of Dominic Cummings when he broke lockdown rules when the population of this country were suffering the loss of loved ones and abiding by the lockdown rules, ignoring any comparisons to death rates in other countries where despite a denser population their death rates have been far lower than ours, and reporting on the consistent lying of the Prime Minister during his time in Parliament.

I look forward to your reply about these points. The BBC is no longer viewed as impartial in its reporting of the actions of the government, and since the new chief executive of the BBC has close links to the Conservative Party, I do not see it improving.

I do not expect you to read this e mail out in future episodes of Look East however I would appreciate an answer as to why you do not report on such subjects and give them the attention they deserve. After all it is your taxes and the healthcare of you and your relatives that we are talking about. We will all need the help of the NHS during our lives, and this Conservative government is gradually taking it away from us while making profit from its demise for themselves, donors and colleagues.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen T.

"I am tired of the abysmal reporting of the BBC news concerning the NHS and really have had enough of listening to such misleading half truths and right wing bias. I doubt they will even bother to answer." --Stephen

Sobering, even sickening reading. The NHS, a much-loved institution is under direct threat from the very government that is supposed to administer it on behalf of the public.

Healthcare services the world over are under incredible strain due to the Covid-19 pandemic, yet publicly-owned healthcare services have shown time and again they are far superior to private systems such as that of the United States. 

The people of Britain are in imminent danger of losing their precious public asset because of typical Tory greed and insensitivity. After generations of agitating for a National Health Service, the British people got one in 1948. Please, people of Britain, do not let this wonderful service fall to pieces through your complacency. Stand up and demand the Tory government rescind all privatization measures and restore the service to what it should and must be.

BIO: Coast Watcher hasn't forgotten his fellow countrymen in the UK. He can see what the Tories are up to with their privatization schemes, and he knows how Big Pharma and the for-profit Health Insurance Industry works from his time in the US. His advice: Keep your eyes open. If there's some way for a corporation to make a profit at the public's expense, expect shenanigans. Fight complacency.

 

***

A taste of justice. Justice served on Derek Chauvin. Guilty on all three counts. Bail revoked. It was a quick verdict. Yet it is so rare that police officers are convicted -- one in 2,000 over the last 15 years for killings by police. It doesn’t bring George Floyd back. But, hopefully, it will give pause to some police who think they can kill with impunity. Six white jurors, six people of color, united on what they saw in those nine minutes of horrifying video.

If it wasn't for the video, made by an outraged bystander, Chauvin would not be behind bars now. But not for Breonna Taylor, not for Tamir Rice, not for Rodney King, and not for the more than 135 unarmed Black people killed at the hands of police — 75 percent of them white — over the past five years. Days before the verdict came down, police shot Daunte Wright in his car outside of Minneapolis. Hours before the verdict, police shot 16-year old Makiah Bryant in Columbus. Painful reminders that one conviction can never undo systemic racism or transform policing.

For millions of Americans, this trial put a spotlight on the terror that many people of color feel when a cop car cruises by them while walking. Or when red lights flash behind them while driving. “Could this be it for me?” We're confronting racist policing, militarized forces in our communities, mass incarceration, and a massive racial wealth divide that has existed since slavery. Both corporate parties are responsible. Biden is arming police with more military weaponry than Trump did. States are passing anti-protest laws and building walls around government buildings. Pelosi responded to the verdict by thanking George Floyd for his sacrifice. He didn't choose to die. He was murdered.

The close-knit activist community in Minnesota can take pride in putting pressure on public officials to prosecute the case in a visible manner, giving them months to research and build their unequivocal case.  Chauvin was convicted, but the biggest culprit is the system that produced him. We must demand a complete overhaul of our police departments and the academies that train them. We must divert funds from policing and military hardware toward services rooted in the community, like better schools, mental health, housing for all, and community policing. We must end the militarization of police and mass incarceration.  A just verdict. But far from justice. In Solidarity, Nick Brana National Coordinator People's Party

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The verdict is in: Derek Chauvin is guilty on all charges. We hold George Floyd’s family in our hearts and minds as they wade through the inescapable and seemingly insurmountable challenges this trial has presented. Although Chauvin has been convicted of murder, nothing will bring back George Floyd.

For weeks, we watched Chauvin’s defense lie, victim-blame, and rely on anti-Black tropes — doing everything possible to blame George Floyd for his own murder. It took over 40 witnesses and two weeks of testimony for a jury to prove what we all saw with our own eyes.

We also know that one conviction doesn't end violent policing or keep Black people safe. That's why Color Of Change immediately demanded a Dept. of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department and other police forces that threaten Black lives. Today, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the DOJ is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis.¹

We're encouraged by this action, but we know that Minneapolis is not alone. The state-sanctioned murder of Black people by police must end. This is a national crisis, and we have to keep fighting to dismantle systems of oppression that threaten Black lives.

That’s why we’re demanding more. It’s time for an investigation into police forces that threaten the lives of Black people across the country. Because the issue of police violence is MUCH deeper than Derek Chauvin or one police department — it’s systemic.

The Justice Department has the power to investigate police departments across the country for civil rights violations and to examine their pattern and practice of inappropriate use of force, particularly targeting Black people. This is an important step forward to win structural change and defend Black lives.

The dept. of justice must investigate now

President Biden has already promised to address the “unbearable human costs of systemic racism,” and to rebuild the Department of Justice with a greater emphasis on racial justice and civil rights. Let’s make one thing clear: That vision must include investigations into systemic racism in policing, and court-monitored consent decrees to end anti-Black violence inflicted by local police departments in Minneapolis and across the country.

The fight for accountability starts with dismantling an entire police system that fails to keep Black people safe. We’re not safe to walk down the street, sit at a traffic stop, sleep in our own beds, go for a jog, or even ride a bike without fear that it might lead to a deadly police encounter. Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict will not change these material conditions for Black folks.

Join us as we make sure President Biden keeps his promise to Black voters by using the power of his administration to defend Black lives — in Minneapolis, in Toledo, and across the country.

Add your name now to call on the Biden DOJ to immediately investigate police departments across the country and demand safety for Black people.

We shouldn’t have to wait for the next tragedy for policymakers to enact tangible reforms. Since the Chauvin trial began on March 29, police in the U.S. have killed more than 3 people every single day. Police in Columbus, OH murdered a young Black girl named Ma'Khia Bryant just minutes after the Chauvin verdict was announced.² That’s unacceptable. We can’t afford to sit silently while people in our communities are dying.

We need your help calling on the Biden administration to act NOW by initiating an investigation into racist police departments across the country.

Add your name: Demand a DOJ investigation of police departments in Columbus, Rochester NY, Louisville, and everywhere Black lives are threatened by militarized police departments.

Until Justice Is Real,

Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Megan, Ernie, Ariel, Madison, Ana, McKayla, Trevor, Palika, and the rest of the Color of Change team

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References:

1. "Justice Department launches investigation into Minneapolis policing practices." NBC News. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/301756?t=7&akid=50586%2E3399430%2EsVXi_l
2. "Throughout Trial Over George Floyd’s Death, Killings by Police Mount." NY Times. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/301233?t=9&akid=50586%2E3399430%2EsVXi_l

***

From Public Citizen:

I think it’s important to remember the initial statement by Minneapolis police after one of them killed George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

For starters, the statement is titled, absurdly, “Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction.”

Then there’s this line:

“Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.”

The gruesome death of George Floyd — as a police officer murdered him in broad daylight over a span of more than nine minutes — is reduced to “and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.”

If not for local residents who bravely stopped and took the cellphone video now seen by the entire world, that official police statement may well have been the final word on the murder of George Floyd by former, and now convicted, police officer Derek Chauvin.

Policing in America is broken — from rampant racial profiling to hyper-militarization to the fact that law enforcement has already killed 319 people this year. (We’re only 111 days into 2021, so that’s almost three police killings a day.)

Tell Congress:

It is long past time for comprehensive, structural changes to the way policing is conceived and carried out in America. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would take significant steps to combat misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in law enforcement. Pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Now.

Add your name.

Thanks for taking action.

For justice,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen