Mayor Steinberg pledges to work toward ending systemic racism in Sacramento
A remarkable event unfolded just a few blocks from my home on Friday, June fifth.
Nearly 2,000 of my constituents lay in the street for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin drove his knee into the neck of George Floyd.
The organizers of this silent protest had asked me not to participate. They didn’t want my presence to distract from the message, and they were right. I watched and listened to a live broadcast in my home.
The next day I marched and spoke at a Saturday protest downtown that drew an estimated 15,000 people.
Looking out over Cesar Chavez Plaza, I saw Sacramentans of all ages and ethnicities. They weren’t asking for change; they were demanding it.
They are right.
I have been proud of my long career spent fighting for the disenfranchised and the vulnerable. I’ve also come to realize that this history is simply not relevant to the people who are demanding action right now – not only to stop police brutality against members of the black community but also to confront and end the systemic racism that still permeates every aspect of our society.
I am a 60-year-old white man, and for me, it starts with acknowledging the privilege those facts have bestowed on my entire life, and how so many people don’t enjoy those same advantages and benefits.
We must do better as a city and country, and we must do it by action, not merely by speeches, written words, or poignant photos. We must do it now, not tomorrow. Those of us entrusted by the public with positions of leadership bear a special responsibility to embrace the discomfort this moment has caused us and follow through with action, rather than hoping and expecting that things will just settle down and return to normal.
What do I mean by action? We must not be afraid to work with our entire community, including the police, to build upon the reforms adopted in the past two years. We must forward specific policies that hold police officers accountable for their actions, reduce the use of tactics that pose an inherent risk to life, and find an alternative to law enforcement to respond to people in crisis who are not committing a crime.
We must also go much farther in creating a genuine economic development agenda in Sacramento for our neighborhoods, our communities of color, and specifically the black community. I call on my colleagues and our entire city to be intentional in words and action. The core function of a great city must go well beyond providing basic services. We must spend real resources on erasing red lines. We cannot rewrite history, but we can define a proud history beginning today.
I pledge today to update our use of force policies to align with national best practices.
I pledge today to fight for investments in our neighborhoods.
I pledge today that I will dedicate the remainder of my elected service over the next four and a half years to doing all I can to end systemic racism in Sacramento.
