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| Formation | 2009 |
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| Website | surj |
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a network organizing white people for racial and economic justice. SURJ was founded in 2009 amidst the backlash to election of Barack Obama as the first black President of the United States. SURJ seeks to bring more white people into racial justice work and to find mutual interest with movements led by black people and people of color.
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Toni Morrison had asked white people to consider what they can do about racism. [1] Carla F. Wallace, SURJ co-founder, said the aim of SURJ is to engage white people in a larger racial justice movement led by people of color. [2] She asks "what is our mutual interest in working for a different society? ... We must move from it being something that we do when we have time on a Saturday to something that we do because our lives depend on it." [3]
One SURJ tactic is deep canvassing, using the power of personal narrative in lengthy non-judgmental conversations to build white support for racial justice. [2] SURJ focuses on “calling in” white people to support racial justice grounded in the vision of Black leaders. [4] SURJ says it’s white people’s responsibility to do anti-racism work and not rely on persons of color to teach white people about racism. [5]
Following the George Floyd protests against police brutality, SURJ developed a toolkit for discussing protests and police violence with one's family. [6] The Louisville chapter encouraged people to speak up about the criminal justice system and challenge assumption of agreement. [7] Other actions include electoral work, where sheriffs can address reforms in the criminal legal system and mass incarceration. [8] SURJ also works to end cash bail. [9]
SURJ called for police accountability and strengthened oversight in the San Diego County jail. [10] SURJ was part of the Citizens for a Safer Cleveland coalition, [11] whose police accountability initiative created a new Community Policing Commission composed of 13 civilians with final decision-making power regarding discipline in police misconduct cases. [12] In the debate over license plate readers, Melissa Cherry from Nashville chapter of SURJ said she was suspicious of private funding for law enforcement with discussion of defunding the police. [13]
Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involves discrimination against minority populations and often builds on negative stereotypes of the targeted demographic. Racial profiling can involve disproportionate stop searches, traffic stops, and the use of surveillance technology for facial identification.
Discrimination based on skin tone, also known as colorism or shadeism, is a form of prejudice and discrimination in which people of certain ethnic groups, or people who are perceived as belonging to a darker-skinned racial group, are treated differently based on their darker skin tone.
"Driving while black" (DWB) is a sardonic description of racial profiling of African-American motor vehicle drivers. It implies that a motorist may be stopped by a police officer largely because of racial bias rather than any apparent violation of traffic law. It is a word play of driving while intoxicated.
Covert racism is a form of racial discrimination that is disguised and subtle, rather than public or obvious. Concealed in the fabric of society, covert racism discriminates against individuals through often evasive or seemingly passive methods. Covert, racially biased decisions are often hidden or rationalized with an explanation that society is more willing to accept. These racial biases cause a variety of problems that work to empower the suppressors while diminishing the rights and powers of the oppressed. Covert racism often works subliminally, and much of the discrimination is done subconsciously.
Police brutality is the use of excessive or unnecessary force by personnel affiliated with law enforcement duties when dealing with suspects and civilians.
Post-racial United States is a theoretical environment in which the United States is free from racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice.
African Americans, and African American males in particular, have an ethnic stereotype in which they are portrayed as dangerous criminals. This stereotype is associated with the fact that African Americans are proportionally over-represented in the numbers of those that are arrested and convicted for committing crimes. It has appeared frequently in American popular culture, reinforcing the negative consequences of systemic racism.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in response to the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. BLM and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes related to black liberation and criminal justice reform. While there are specific organizations that label themselves "Black Lives Matter", such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the overall movement is a decentralized network with no formal hierarchy. As of 2021, there are about 40 chapters in the United States and Canada. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself has not been trademarked by any group.
Lamont Lilly is an American writer, political activist, and community organizer based in Durham, North Carolina. He is also a former vice-presidential candidate with the Workers World Party in the 2016 presidential election.
This is a list of protests brought on by the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in Kentucky, United States. In 2020, there were protests throughout Kentucky in reaction to the shooting of Breonna Taylor and murder of George Floyd by police, as well as the shooting of David McAtee by the Kentucky Army National Guard. The demonstrations happened regularly in the largest cities in Kentucky, including Louisville and Lexington. Many of the smaller cities had protests on at least one day.
Individuals and organizations throughout the United States and the world have responded to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots.
"No justice, no peace" is a political slogan which originated during protests against acts of ethnic violence against African Americans. Its precise meaning is contested. The slogan was used as early as 1986, following the killing of Michael Griffith by a mob of youths.
The Not Fucking Around Coalition (NFAC) is a black nationalist militia, part of the militia movement in the United States. The group advocates for black liberation and separatism. It has been described by news outlets as a "Black militia". It denies any connection to the Black Panther Party or Black Lives Matter.
A wave of civil unrest in the United States, initially triggered by the murder of George Floyd during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, led to protests and riots against systemic racism in the United States, including police brutality and other forms of violence. Since the initial national wave and peak ended towards the end of 2020, numerous other incidents of police violence have drawn continued attention and lower intensity unrest in various parts of the country.
The Breonna Taylor protests were a series of police brutality protests surrounding the killing of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was a 26-year-old African-American woman who was fatally shot by plainclothes officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department on March 13, 2020. Police were initially given "no-knock" search warrant, but orders were changed to "knock and announce" before the raid. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was inside the apartment with her during the raid, said he thought the officers were intruders. He fired one shot, hitting officer Mattingly in the leg, and the officers fired 32 shots in return, killing Taylor.
Assa Traoré is a French-Malian anti-racism activist and leader of the Truth and Justice for Adama Committee, named after her half-brother, Adama Traoré, who died in police custody, the circumstances of his death having been disputed. An autopsy raised in court indicated he may have suffered asphyxiation after his arrest, which was admitted by one of the Gendarmes who held him. Since Adama's death she has attempted to challenge the institutions of France, rallying activists from black neighbourhoods and engaging medical experts to try to get to the bottom of his death. On July 18, 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, she participated in the "Marche pour Adama", and called for the prosecution of the gendarmerie regarding her brother's death.
This is a list of protests that took place in San Diego County, California, following the murder of George Floyd that took place on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. These events were created to fight for justice for George Floyd and other Black community members who suffer from police brutality. These demonstrations resulted in a number of policy changes, namely the ban of the cartoid neck restraints use in San Diego County and a city-wide independent review board that would review police practices.
Racism in Jewish communities is a source of concern for people of color, particularly for Jews of color. Black Jews, Indigenous Jews, and other Jews of color report that they experience racism from white Jews in many countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Kenya, South Africa, and New Zealand. Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews also report experiences with racism by Ashkenazi Jews. The centering of Ashkenazi Jews is sometimes known as Ashkenormativity. In historically white-dominated countries with a legacy of anti-Black racism, such as the United States and South Africa, racism within the Jewish community often manifests itself as anti-Blackness. In Israel, racism among Israeli Jews often manifests itself as discrimination and prejudice against Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, Ethiopian Jews, African immigrants, and Palestinians. Controversially, some critics describe Zionism as racist or settler colonial in nature.
The Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, commonly known as the SAFE-T Act, is a state of Illinois statute enacted in 2021 that makes a number of reforms to the criminal justice system, affecting policing, pretrial detention and bail, sentencing, and corrections. The Act's section on pretrial detention, which took effect in full on September 18, 2023, is also known as the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Just Us: An American Conversation is a 2020 book and anthology of essays, poems, and personal anecdotes written by American author and poet Claudia Rankine. An "arrangement of essays, poems, and images [which] includes the voices and rebuttals of others", it describes and outlines an ideal response to forms of racism in contemporary settings. The book received mixed reviews from critics.