Adam Schiff Reflects on Racism in America

Congressman Adam Schiff (Photo – Gage Skidmore)

Congressman Adam Schiff sent a letter to the community reflecting on racism in the United States.

By News Desk

Here’s the letter in its entirety:

Racism is the original sin of our nation. Throughout the course of our history, we have fought the virus of racism through a bloody civil war, a civil rights movement, generations of peaceful protest and progressive legislation. We have made progress, but only haltingly and at great cost.

For racism is always with us. Sometimes out in the open, sometimes not. But always present, changing and mutating, occasionally seeming to lay dormant only to recur with a frightful intensity.

And in Minneapolis on May 25, when a police officer put his knee on the neck of George Floyd and kept it there for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, racism was at the heart of that murderous depravity. An unconscionable eternity, as George Floyd spent his last moments struggling to breathe.

And at this most painful and difficult time in the life of our nation, I wanted to offer a few reflections on racism in America, which you can watch here:

We can and must do better for those suffocating on our streets whether under the knee of a racist cop or from a system of justice that has perpetuated inequality and injustice. We must see this violence and racism with our own two eyes, and never shy away or stay silent. And we must do so with a sense of urgency. Because Black Lives Matter.

Here’s what we’re doing in Congress:

Led by our colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, including California’s Senator Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Karen Bass, we just introduced a bold, unprecedented police accountability bill, the Justice in Policing Act. This bill will:

• Hold police officers and departments responsible and increase transparency.
• Make structural changes to our justice system.
• Eliminate qualified immunity, which helps protect bad actors, and much more.

Much work remains to be done – especially at the state and local levels – but I am proud to support this bill as a critical first step.

I believe in America. I believe in its ideals and its future. Even at times like this. If black Americans who have had to endure so much, have never given up hope, if they believe that America can be a more perfect union and are willing to fight for that future, as they have shown time and time again as they take to the streets, then who am I to lose faith? And for those who have lost hope, how can we, together, restore it?

My job now is to lift up, and do what I can to help heal. The work continues.