Representative James Clyburn, born in South Carolina in 1940, has a long lifetime of experience resisting racism and fighting for progressive causes. He has offered a wise warning about the “Defund Police” movement, which is currently being pushed on social media by an irresponsible political fringe element. As Clyburn cautions, progressives need to resist the “Defund Police” crowd which is attempting to hijack, and which would ultimately undermine, the movement for actual serious police reforms. The country needs meaningful police reform, not a politically suicidal slogan.
“House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the highest-ranking black member in Congress and a veteran of the civil rights movement, has some advice for today’s protesters and activists: Don’t let the ‘defund the police’ movement hijack the momentum to make serious police reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s death,” the Washington Post reports.
“Clyburn, who grew up in the Jim Crow South and has been a civil rights advocate since he was 12 years old, urged activists calling to overhaul policing and end systemic racism find a clearer and more united message.”
Said Clyburn: “When you allow people to use incendiary terms, we create a climate within which we can’t get much done.”