US Sen. Kamala Harris says protests can really spark change

United States Senator, and former Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris has lived a racialized life as a mixed-race woman and the Democratic Senator, who also went to high school in Montreal, knows a thing or two about systemic racism in the judicial system after her years as a prosecutor in California. She chatted with Stephen Colbert on June 17 for the at-home edition of The Late Show and spoke about how the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests are the true catalysts for change in a country fraught with systemic racism."The greatest movements that we have seen in recent history in our country, but probably since the beginning, have been borne out of protest," she said. "Have been borne out of understanding the power of the people to take to the streets and force their government to address what is wrong—the inequities, the inequalities, the unfairness. But also the conscience of a government is its people—to force the government to be true to the ideals that we say we hold dear." It's not just about ideals, she continued—it's about turning those ideals into tangible action, which is happening right now. “I am very clear that some of the success that we’ve been able to achieve around criminal justice reform,” she said, “would not have happened in recent years were it not for Black Lives Matter, and the intensity and the brilliance of that movement that forced, at least, that there would be some counter-force to the status quo, which is so reluctant to change if not hostile to change.”“That’s what these movements do,” she continued, “that where these systems are so invested and ingrained in what they call ‘tradition’—but is status quo, often which can be wrong-headed—these movements provide a counter-force to get us to where we need to be.”When Stephen asked if even the smallest indicators of change on the right side of the political spectrum, namely the Republican Party, can be attributed to the efforts of BLM, Sen. Harris, who says she's been protesting with her parents since she was in a stroller in the '60s, repeated emphatically, “I’m sure of it! I’m sure of it!”

 

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A post shared by Kamala Harris (@kamalaharris) on Jun 5, 2020 at 3:31pm PDT

She’s not wrong. Some of the changes we’ve seen in the past three weeks—since the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis sparked global BLM protests—have been a direct result of the movement on the streets. Minneapolis announced it is dismantling its police force, cities all throughout the south have been tearing down Confederate statues, and Congressional Democrats unveiled a sweeping reform bill that would ban chokeholds, make lynching a federal crime, and make it easier to charge cops who use excessive force.[video_embed id='1970792']RELATED: What needs to change to address systemic racism in Canada towards Indigenous people [/video_embed]Closer to home, Toronto City Council is currently considering reducing the police budget by 10% and rerouting costs to mental health and community organizations. There is a petition to rename Dundas Street because its namesake is Henry Dundas, a man who obstructed the abolition of slavery in the British Empire and cost thousands of lives. This week, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh introduced a motion to the House of Commons that would address systemic racism in Canada and put more checks on the RCMP who have disproportionately targeted and committed violence against the Indigenous community. But there's still a long way to go.Over the weekend, CTV aired a special, “Change &  Action: Racism in Canada” to highlight the many ways in which BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Colour) are disenfranchised and mistreated in Canada, speaking with activists, actors and allies about what can be done to move forward. We have witnessed many political figures, like Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders and Prime Minister Trudeau take a knee with BLM protestors, something unthinkable even as early as last year. All these are starting points to larger action as politicians start to listen to the calls of activists to address systemic inequality in a bigger way.[video_embed id='1977627']BEFORE YOU GO: Megan Thee Stallion, more celebs attend All Black Lives Matter protest [/video_embed]