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NEWS RELEASE
LATINO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF BOULDER COUNTY
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In Solidarity
The Latino Chamber of Commerce of Boulder County grieves and condemns the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department; and supports the peaceful protests of Black Lives Matter resulting from this heinous crime.
We are outraged by the injustices of discrimination and racism and the disparities in policing at all levels of government. Since Rodney King in 1992, the names have changed, but the color has not! Since Ruben Salazar in 1970, the names have changed, but the color has not! But, what is more disheartening is that while performatively messaging about the issue of police violence, our political, business, and education leaders are not addressing the structural, systemic, root causes, nor do they understand the heart of what is happening in the streets of America.
Local power structures, including business and educational policymakers, and municipal governments, are controlled by whites, who, for the most part have little understanding of, or concern for, our Boulder County communities of color, and our communities in poverty.
The Latino Chamber has a vision for a better future, but that view experiences erosion when poverty, unemployment, discrimination and disparate treatment, and police violence runs rampant and unabated. The absence of policy decisions to mitigate these conditions, even considering the effects of COVID-19, lends to a sense of hopelessness, and coupled with unemployment and poverty, there exists a potential of inadequate schooling for poor children and children of color once schools reopen, and a continuation of a poor social services network, as experienced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
The cities of Boulder and Longmont have the opportunity, right now, to dismantle and rebuild their police departments with the leadership changes made in each community. It is no secret what needs to be done. Police departments need to be changed from the bottom to the top. While the county’s law enforcement leaders have issued a joint statement promising reforms, they need to know that incremental reform efforts are only illusions of fixing the problem. We trust the good leaders in Boulder and Longmont, and throughout Boulder County, those with the power and privilege will act to make the needed changes for disparities to disappear forever.
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