Republican AGs: Acknowledging racism is 'part of the problem, not a solution'

On Tuesday, following a week of protests, Democratic Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey called on leaders to listen to Americans across the country who are calling for an end to pervasive and racist police violence following the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota who died last week after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.

In a speech to the Boston Chamber of Commerce, Healey said it was time for “building anew in ways that rid us of the institutionalized racism that’s led to America burning today.”

“I support calls for a revolution, but not the revolution of violence in our streets. Instead, I’m calling for a revolution in mindset. A fundamental change to our ingrained assumptions,” she said.

She ender her remarks by saying, “Yes, America is burning. But that’s how forests grow.”

The day after her speech, the Republican Attorneys General Association slammed her comments, claiming Healey was promoting violence with “inflammatory rhetoric” that is “part of the problem, not a solution.”

Lousiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, chair of the association, said in a statement that Healey’s comments “incite additional violence by inflaming emotions and condoning lawlessness.”

Landry also demanded that Healey take down a tweet that included a quote from her speech, and “quit fanning the flames of emotion for political gain.”

The Democratic Attorneys General Association defended Healey’s remarks.

“It’s disappointing, but predictable, that the first time Jeff Landry commented on the killing of George Floyd was in a political statement that ignored the facts and significance of what happened,” Sean Rankin, the group’s executive director, said in a Wednesday email. The attack on Healey “proves what we already knew to be true: Jeff Landry and RAGA are a part of the problem.”

Neither the association’s website nor Landry’s website contains a statement or press release about Floyd’s death.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.