Hillary Clinton accepts Bernie Sanders endorsement
This is a time for all of us to stand together – because these have been difficult days for our country.
Taking on the systemic racism that plagues our country – and rebuilding the frayed bonds of trust and respect between law enforcement and the communities they serve – will require contributions from all of us. And we have to begin by starting to listen to each other. And more than that, we then have to do something that will help us fix these problems.
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We have to reform our broken criminal justice system, take back our democracy from the wealthy special interests, and make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. And you know what? We have to do all these things at the same time.
That’s why throughout this campaign, we’ve been calling for eliminating racial profiling and disparities in sentencing. Ending the era of mass incarceration, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, providing more employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people.
In addition to that, I am proposing two new steps that get law enforcement the support they need while also stopping the tragedy, the tragedy of black men and women – and black children – being killed in police incidents.
First, let’s bring law enforcement and the communities they swear to protect and serve together to develop national guidelines on the use of force by police officers.
And second, let’s provide better training on implicit bias, that remains a problem even in our best police departments but it also remains a problem across our society.
I’m asking for all of us to really search our hearts and minds to make sure that we don’t have those implicit biases. Let’s learn from police departments like Dallas that had made strong progress, and apply their lessons nationwide. Because everyone in every community benefits when there is respect for the law and when everyone is respected by the law.
Remember, when gunfire broke out in Dallas, the peaceful protestors and the crowds that had gathered to support them ran to safety, while the police officers – who just minutes before had been talking with and taking pictures with and protecting the protesters – the police officers ran the other way – they ran into the gunfire. That’s the kind of courage and dedication our police and first responders show every single day.
So yes – let’s take real, meaningful action to end the epidemic of gun violence in America. From Sandy Hook to Orlando to Dallas, and so many other places, these tragedies tear at our soul. And so do the incidents that don’t even dominate the headlines. Just this past Sunday, a young man, Seth Rich, who worked for the Democratic National Committee to expand voting rights, was shot and killed in his neighborhood in Washington. He was just 27 years old.
Surely we can agree that weapons of war have no place on the streets of America. Our police and first responders should never have to face a madman, a racist, a person filled with hatred, with an assault weapon. We owe it to every officer who puts his or her life on the line to protect us – so let’s protect them.
And we can’t stop there. This is part of a broader challenge across our country. Inequality is too high, wages are too low, and it is just too hard to get ahead for too many Americans.
We need an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Not just the millionaires and billionaires but everybody.
And to do that, we need to go big and we need to go bold. This isn’t a time for half measures. So we are setting five ambitious goals.
[…] Hillary Clinton accepts Bernie Sanders endorsement […]