NEW YORK—The Black Conservative Federation (BCF) is taking action in response to the protests over the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. The group has created a bi-partisan black ‘Millennial Alliance’ that partners with prominent young black Democrats and Republicans as well as activists to enact change for the black community.
The federation’s move comes amid civil unrest including peaceful protests, riots, looting, arson, and attacks on people, property, and police over the death of Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The move also follows several controversial deaths of black Americans by alleged white perpetrators over the last decade.
In a press release announcing the formation of the alliance on June 2, the federation’s president Diante Johnson stated that “pain knows no party.” Johnson wants to take the next steps to help the black community. The alliance proposes policies on criminal justice reform and economic support for black businesses in America.
Political activist and political director for BCF Marcus Towns told NTD that blacks are no longer faced with “old racism.” Towns said that the racism blacks now face comes off in a more subtle way.
“It starts with little comments where you’re with a group of maybe all white people and you’re the only person there who’s a minority, and the sentiment will be, ‘Oh, you’re one of the good ones. Oh, you understand.’ That’s an issue, right? That’s hateful rhetoric,” Towns said.
NTD spoke with Lisa, a New Yorker who says she has seen more unity nowadays among blacks, whites, and other races coming together to make a change.
“I think the peaceful protesting and the marching is a way of making a statement, as if when they were doing it in the past—a way of saying, ‘We had enough. Things have to change. There has to be reform,’” she said.
Jasmine, a black female in New York City, says she hasn’t seen the video of Floyd’s death. “[I] actually did not watch it on purpose. I watched Eric Garner, and that was enough to know what was gonna happen with Floyd,” Jasmine said. “The sadness and the fear that I felt with Eric is pretty much what I feel with all the other victims as well.”
A Jewish man named Simon says that educating children about God can bring an end to looting, and to racism. “Get education while the children growing up that there’s a God, and God says you’re not allowed to steal. If they get the right proper education, such things wouldn’t happen,” Simon said.
Floyd will be buried next to his mother in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday.
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