As widespread protests against structural racism, police brutality and the killing of George Floyd stretched into a third week Monday, the co-founder of the civic engagement group Black Voters Matter Fund said this time feels “very different” than past protests.
“People are quite frankly fed up,” LaTosha Brown told Jim Braude on WGBH News’ Greater Boston Monday.
“Normally what happens is there’s this incident, there’s an uprising, police get arrested, there’s some incremental passive policy that changes,” she said. “And nothing ever fundamentally changes.”
This time is different, Brown said, because there is a diverse coalition demanding it.
“We’re seeing a multiracial, multigenerational [group of people] saying that they want to see something different, that they want to see structural change,” she explained.
But the outrage protesters feel towards police brutality — and President Donald Trump, whose poll numbers have fallen amid his response to the demonstration — might not be enough to inspire them to turn out for the election in November.
“It’s one thing to say to people, ‘vote against,’” she said. “But there’s something that really has to take it to the next level for them to vote for something.”
So far, a number of Democrats across the country have signaled a willingness to take substantive action.
Mayor Marty Walsh has vowed to look into reallocating some of the Boston’s police budget, the mayors of L.A. and New York City have promised to cut police funding and the Minneapolis City Council has announced plans to defund and replace that city’s police department entirely.
In Congress, Democrats in the House and Senate unveiled a national police reform bill that would classify lynching as a federal hate crime, ban chokeholds and other similar restraints by police, make it easier to sue officers for constitutional rights violations and give the Justice Department and state attorneys general broader power to investigate police departments.
But Brown warned that a lack of access may also hinder voter turnout this year, as many states place a greater emphasis on mail-in voting — an option that has historically been used by Black voters at much lower rates than other populations.
“We need a buffet of different [options,]” she said. “Some people are going to go to the polls and vote and some people are gonna get mail-in ballots.”
She also pointed to a recent reduction of polling places in recent primary elections in Indiana, Washington D.C. and elsewhere, which led to long lines and poor social distancing in some areas.
“People are going to the polls, standing in line ... for blocks, waiting for 5 to 6 to 7 hours. It’s unconscionable. So, something is breaking down,” she said.
“America is supposed to be the strongest democracy in the world. If we can figure out how to put a man on the moon, certainly we can figure out how to expand access and make sure that we have access for people to express the fundamental right in this country and that is the right to vote,” Brown added.
