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Costa Calls for Justice and Cooperation to Heal Racial Divisions

June 1, 2020

Four hundred years after America committed its original sin, slavery, we once again witness the racial fault lines that still exist in our country. We've made progress to bridge the gaps. We ended slavery and expanded rights after the Civil War. We stopped segregation and watched the Civil Rights Movement move us toward greater justice and equality.

Even with those advances, profound social, economic and racial divisions persist today. They stain the fabric of American society, as we have witnessed this past week in Minnesota and throughout our country.

Americans have watched the deaths of black men and women like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner and Michael Brown, and so many more, and questioned who we are as a nation. We've offered compassion and expressed outrage. And yet, more incidents happen. It's heartbreaking. And appalling.

Justice must prevail if we are to prove that we truly embrace our founding principle that "all men are created equal." I commend the Minneapolis Police Chief for swiftly firing the officers involved in Mr. Floyd's death. But we need to do more as a nation to improve social and economic justice for all.

So today, I ask all Americans to look within and reflect on how we come together — in memory of George Floyd, his family and all of our citizens who have felt the injustice of racial prejudice. It's the only way we can be that "shining city on the hill."

For a nation we all love, let us work together to heal our divisions. I'm working on a plan to engage on this topic over the next year in my district. That's what we must do. We can start making tomorrow better, today.

-- Congressman Jim Costa

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