On a day meant to commemorate the end of slavery in Texas, consider this: Right now, there are more Black men under the control of the American criminal justice system than the number of those in bondage before the Civil War.
Chattel slavery may have ended, but the racial injustice underpinning our country’s history is ever present, most dramatically in the systems we rely on for safety. Public discourse about reform has largely revolved around the police, prisons and federal initiatives, but if we are to reach a place of true progress, it will take the sustained efforts of local elected prosecutors across the country to rectify and reimagine their role in the criminal legal system — not just as gatekeepers, but as active catalysts for change.
Black people have long celebrated Juneteenth since the end of legal slavery in 1865. Yet the legal system still runs against us: Black men are seven times more likely to be battered by police officers; 1 in every 1,000 may be killed by law enforcement in their lifetime. Racially motivated hate crimes are on the rise, and at the highest levels of the federal government, violence against Black and brown communities is being normalized, rationalized, even encouraged.
