Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a network organizing

white people White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

for racial and

economic justice Justice in economics is a subcategory of welfare economics. It is a "set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions". Economic justice aims to create opportunities for every person to have a dignified, productive and creativ ...

. SURJ was founded in 2009 amidst the backlash to

election of Barack Obama The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

as the first black

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. SURJ seeks to bring more white people into racial justice work and to find mutual interest with Black and POC led movements.

History

Black activists and intellectuals from

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

have argued for decades that white people bear the primary responsibility for rooting out racism. Carla F. Wallace, SURJ co-founder, said the aim is to engage

in a larger

racial justice Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

movement led by

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

. She asks "what is our mutual interest in working for a different society? ... We must move from it being something that we do when we have time on a Saturday to something that we do because our lives depend on it."

Tactics

One SURJ tactic is

deep canvassing Deep canvassing is a form of canvassing that uses long empathic conversations to help shift someone's beliefs. Origins The idea originated in 2012, at the Los Angeles LGBT Center when staffers decided to talk to people who voted against same sex ...

, using the power of personal narrative in lengthy non-judgmental conversations to build white support for racial justice. SURJ focuses on “calling in” White people to support racial justice grounded in the vision of Black leaders. SURJ says it’s White people’s responsibility to do

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate a ...

work and not rely on POC to teach White people about racism.

Criminal justice reform

Following the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

against

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

, some have had challenging conversations with family members. SURJ developed a toolkit for discussing protests and police violence. Anger towards the

criminal justice system Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

can be used to bring about change if people speak up. Other actions include electoral work, where

sheriffs A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

can address reforms in the criminal legal system and

mass incarceration Incarceration in the United States is a primary form of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarceratio ...

. SURJ also works to end cash

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

Police accountability

SURJ called for

police accountability Police accountability involves holding both individual police officers, as well as law enforcement agencies responsible for effectively delivering basic services of crime control and maintaining order, while treating individuals fairly and withi ...

and strengthened oversight in the San Diego County jail. SURJ was part of the Citizens for a Safer Cleveland coalition, whose police accountability initiative created a new Community Policing Commission composed of 13 civilians with final decision-making power regarding discipline in police misconduct cases. In the debate over license plate readers, Melissa Cherry from Nashville chapter of SURJ said she was suspicious of private funding for law enforcement with discussion of

defunding the police "Defund the police" is a slogan that supports removing funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and ...

.{{Cite web, last=Wadhwani, first=Anita, last2=April 20, first2=Tennessee Lookout, last3=2021, date=2021-04-20, title=Debate over license plate readers returns to Metro Council Tuesday, url=https://tennesseelookout.com/2021/04/20/debate-over-license-plate-readers-returns-to-metro-council-tuesday/, access-date=2022-02-12, website=Tennessee Lookout, language=en-US

References

External links