Yesterday, a grand jury in Louisville, Ky. failed to bring justice for Breonna Taylor. Only one of the three officers involved in her death was indicted for first-degree wanton endangerment charges. Not a single officer was actually charged for her death.
In March, Taylor was shot multiple times in her apartment during a “no-knock” police raid led by Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove. Across the nation, activists have called for the termination and prosecution of the officers who killed her. For months, her name has been a rallying cry for the end of systemic racism in our country.
The Black Lives Matter movement is, and will continue to be, a constant fight. To those who haven’t recently donated to Black mutual aid funds, open your wallets. Donate to this GoFundMe to directly help her family. Even now as we write this editorial, people have mobilized in major cities across the country; support the Louisville Bail Project to protect the protesters who are taking to the streets.
Today, we also published an editorial about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, encouraging Hopkins students to register to vote. However, voting blue down the ballot is not going to change everything. The Mayor and City Council of Louisville are majority Democrat, and this leadership still failed Taylor. We must be critical of all elected officials. It is irresponsible to say that we can stop future injustices by simply voting out bigots in government.
It would also be hypocritical of us to say to invest your time and energy in a system that has proven time and time again to work against Black, Indigenous and people of color. Disillusionment and apathy towards voting is more than understandable.
Racist policing is systemic and historically ingrained within the structures of our government. To dismantle it, we need more than just ballots to achieve radical change.
The News-Letter stands in solidarity with those grieving.
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