A Statement from LCDC Leadership:
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, Lancaster County Democratic Committee is committed to the following actions:
- We will provide 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 intentions. 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