If we’ve all learned anything from the brutal killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, and from the cries for racial justice that rose up from the streets of our nation, it’s that we must rethink policing and reform our criminal justice system. We call again for lawmakers, regardless of party, to take action.

We incarcerate too many Black people, with horrible impacts on Black communities and families that last for generations — including distrust of government and police, and an inability for many to see the humanity in each other, even at early ages. To young Black people, understandably, and tragically, the government is the demon.

It doesn’t have to be that way, and if we want safer, more just communities, it’s unsustainable.

But if we are ever going to coexist in peace so all children can reach their potential, we must reverse our history of racial injustice — a history, and a present, in which Black and Brown people have been excluded from the economy and society.