From police impunity to public accountability: BMSG statement on next steps in the fight for racial justice
Thursday, April 22, 2021Along with communities across the nation, we held our breath this week, afraid to hope for a verdict that would challenge the pattern of police violence that has long traumatized Black and Brown communities. And then it happened: A diverse jury finally delivered basic accountability.
The milestone is just one step in a much larger journey, but today we stand in solidarity with those who have fought so hard to realize this change. We acknowledge the significance of the current moment while grieving how overdue — and incomplete — it is. A guilty verdict for the ex-cop who murdered George Floyd, while necessary, ultimately provides little respite when Chicagoans are still grappling with the recent death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo at the hands of law enforcement; Minneapolis is still reeling from the killing of Daunte Wright, a young father; and Ohioans are grieving the loss of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, whom police fatally shot on Tuesday.
Police violence — and news coverage of it — has persisted for decades with little change. Recognizing that, we are reflecting on recent events and leveraging the passion they elicit to press harder toward our shared goals of justice and liberation.
But how, exactly, do we make that happen? This week’s trial outcome has left many people dealing with mixed emotions and asking: Where do we go from here? What’s needed to progress from a single instance of accountability to true racial justice?
For our part at BMSG, we hope to elevate efforts to redirect funds away from law enforcement and toward programs that foster community health and wellness. We will also continue to support the public health advocates, residents, and journalists who have committed to documenting police violence and speaking out in the ongoing fight for justice, despite risks to their own personal safety. And we will continue to urge news outlets to ensure that diversity and inclusion are central to their hiring policies and practices; after all, newsrooms cannot appropriately challenge racist systems if they do not reflect our communities.
We also encourage journalists to incorporate an equity framework into all their reporting decisions, from elevating solutions to deciding which sources to quote to determining what stories make the news in the first place. Fortunately, media coverage of police brutality has begun to improve in recent years, with a growing number of publications beginning to examine the structural and systemic factors that fuel racism. Still, we have a long way to go on the road toward preventing violence, rather than merely condemning it after the fact.
A police officer’s conviction for murder should not be newsworthy for its rarity — police violence itself should be the rarity. Like so many of you, we want future generations to know a world where police violence and white supremacy do not exist. For that to happen, we must champion those whose lives are the most impacted by violence. We must ensure that Black and Brown voices have access to the largest platforms — and the loudest megaphones.
In solidarity,
The BMSG team
Want to champion media diversity? Consider donating to the International Women’s Media Foundation Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund. Contributions support the mental health and well-being of journalists of color, many of whom experience trauma while reporting on racial injustices but do not receive resources from their newsrooms to help them heal.