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| Formation | 2009 |
|---|---|
| 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 Blacks and persons of color.
Black activists and intellectuals from Malcolm X to Toni Morrison have argued for decades that white people bear the primary responsibility for rooting out racism. Carla F. Wallace, SURJ co-founder, said the aim is to engage white people in a larger racial justice movement led by people of color. [1] 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." [2]
One SURJ tactic is deep canvassing, using the power of personal narrative in lengthy non-judgmental conversations to build white support for racial justice. [1] SURJ focuses on “calling in” White people to support racial justice grounded in the vision of Black leaders. [3] 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. [4]
Following the George Floyd protests against police brutality, some have had challenging conversations with family members. SURJ developed a toolkit for discussing protests and police violence. [5] Anger towards the criminal justice system can be used to bring about change if people speak up. [6] Other actions include electoral work, where sheriffs can address reforms in the criminal legal system and mass incarceration. [7] SURJ also works to end cash bail. [8]
SURJ called for police accountability and strengthened oversight in the San Diego County jail. [9] SURJ was part of the Citizens for a Safer Cleveland coalition, [10] 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. [11] 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. [12]
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 color, also known as colorism, or shadeism, is a form of prejudice and discrimination in which people who share similar ethnic traits and people who are perceived as belonging to a darker skinned race are treated differently based on the social implications that come with the cultural meanings that are attached to their darker skin color.
Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, are all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation or violence. The term came from signs posted that "colored people" had to leave town by sundown.
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 often much of the discrimination is being done subconsciously.
Police brutality is the repression by personnel affiliated with law enforcement when dealing with suspects and civilians. The term is also applied to abuses by "corrections" personnel in municipal, state, and federal prison camps, including military prisons.
Post-racial United States is a theoretical environment in which the United States is free from racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice.
Racism in South Africa can be traced back to the earliest historical accounts of interactions between African, Asian, and European peoples along the coast of Southern Africa. It has existed throughout several centuries of the history of South Africa, dating back to the Dutch colonization of Southern Africa, which started in 1652. Before universal suffrage was achieved in 1994, White South Africans, especially Afrikaners during the period of Apartheid, enjoyed various legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights that were denied to the indigenous African peoples. Examples of systematic racism over the course of South Africa's history include forced removals, racial inequality and segregation, uneven resource distribution, and disenfranchisement. Racial controversies and politics remain major phenomena in the country.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. It started following the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. The movement and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes considered to be related to black liberation. While there are specific organizations that label themselves simply as "Black Lives Matter," such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network, the overall movement is a decentralized network of people and organizations with no formal hierarchy. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself remains untrademarked by any group. Despite being characterized by some as a violent movement, the overwhelming majority of its public demonstrations have been peaceful.
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.
Beginning on May 28, 2020, a number of cities in Ohio saw protests against the murder of George Floyd. Major cities such as Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton had large protests, and numerous smaller cities and towns saw demonstrations as well. As a result of rioting and looting, a number of cities such as Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati and Springfield imposed curfews of varying times.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Kentucky, United States. In 2020, there were protests throughout Kentucky in reaction to the murder of George Floyd and the shooting of Breonna Taylor 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.
Black Visions Collective (BLVC) is an American nonprofit organization for black liberation based in Minnesota, founded in December 2017. The group intersects with transgender and LGBTQ communities. Active in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, BLVC has been involved in Black Lives Matter protests. It has lobbied for part of the Minneapolis Police Department budget to be diverted to programs that support people experiencing youth homelessness, opioid dependency, and mental health issues.
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 white youths.
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 riots and protests against systemic racism in the United States, such as in the form of police violence and other forms of violence. Since then, numerous other incidents of police brutality have drawn continued attention and 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.
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 have resulted in a few 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.
American reality television franchise The Bachelor has long been criticized for how it handles race. Industry journalists, academics, and critics have condemned the franchise for its lack of racial diversity, its portrayal of people of color, and its contestants' racist behaviors.
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 racism is practiced by 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.
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 on January 1, 2023, is also known as the Pretrial Fairness Act.
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