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Black Lives Matter

A Statement from the LCDC Leadership

June 7, 2020

We have seen the protests in our community, our nation, and around the world. We have grieved with families who have lost their loved ones, from George Floyd to Breonna Taylor, and so, so many others. We are writing this today to say that however deep our feelings, our actions have failed you. Our organization has failed to prioritize racial justice in a substantive and actionable way, and we are genuinely sorry for that.

But this is not a statement asking for absolution. This is a statement to tell you that we have seen where we have work to do and to share with you our commitments going forward.

In the coming year and moving forward, the Lancaster County Democratic Committee is committed to the following actions:

  • We will provide a mandatory implicit bias and racial justice training for all current and future committee people and endorsed candidates.
  • We will train our endorsed candidates on issues of racial justice such as police reform, housing, and justice reform so that we are electing leaders well-versed in these life or death issues.
  • We pledge to increase the inclusion of committee people of color, and will regularly report our progress on this effort.
  • We commit to reinvigorating our Black and Latinx caucuses and providing the support these caucuses need to bring more voices of color to the decision making tables within our organization.
  • We will prioritize recruiting and supporting people of color to be candidates for office.
  • We will encourage our members to reach out to the police departments in their own communities across the county to ask about things like use of force policies, bias training, and de-escalation training.

We are the party that has consistently claimed to work for the marginalized and the oppressed. We have failed to honor that in the past in all but feeling and good intention. We are committing to honoring it now with action.

In Solidarity,

Diane Topakian
Chair

Ismail Smith-Wade-El
Vice-Chair

Mary Auker-Endres
Vice-Chair

Are you passionate about standing up for fairness and justice?

Committee people are elected by Democrats in their local precinct to represent them on the County Committee. They inform their neighbors of election dates and polling places, provide information about candidates and issues on the ballot, represent the Democratic Party and endorsed candidates at their polls on election days, and organize their precincts to get out the vote.

Our by-laws allow two committee people per voting precinct, though some precincts have less than two committee people. The LCDC Chair may appoint residents to fill vacancies through the next committee person election. These appointed committee people have the same rights and responsibilities of elected committee people.

Does this sound like something you’re interested in? Fill out this form to submit your inquiry to the LCDC Chair. If there is a vacancy in your precinct, the LCDC Chair or your District Leader will reach out to meet to discuss the role. If there are no vacancies in your precinct, we’ll still help you get involved in local campaigns!

LCDC Committee Person
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