On the Police Killing of Black People and the Current Uprising

 

We grieve for the lives of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony Mcdade, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop and countless other Black people killed by police. We stand in solidarity with those who are rising up against police brutality, white supremacy and racial injustice across the nation and the world. The latest abuses have taken place at a time that our country is facing a pandemic that has killed over 100,000 Americans and that has led to an economic crisis that has left more than 40 million people unemployed. In both fronts, black and brown communities have been disproportionately affected. 

 

Because of all of this and more, the Warehouse Worker Resource Center states loudly that Black Lives Matter.

 

We believe the combination of this uprising at a time of economic collapse and the collapse of the US public health and environmental protection systems means it is crucial for us to grapple with what cultural theorist Stuart Hall called “race as the modality in which class is lived, the medium in which class relations are experienced.” We see every day that the actions of police in our communities also affect who gets access to employment and workplace rights.

 

The Inland Empire has its own history of white nationalism and police brutality expressed through the murders of Tyisha Miller in Riverside, Bartholomew Williams in San Bernardino, Diante Yarber in Barstow, and others. The Warehouse Worker Resource Center stands in solidarity with the black community, and denounces police brutality and white supremacist violence, as well as economic policies that lead to increasing inequality. We commit to a vision of an Inland Empire in which movements can set the agenda for our communities, including workplaces. In the midst of sorrow and righteous anger, we are inspired by the influx of new and young people into organizing who are taking courageous actions in our community, and we commit to supporting Black leadership in envisioning and building a new social, political and economic reality for the Inland Empire. 

– Warehouse Worker Resource Center