NEW: Groups to March in Support of Racial Profiling Prevention Bill
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) and the Coalition Against Racial Profiling today will march in Providence to urge legislators to push the Comprehensive Racial Profiling Prevention Act to vote.
The march will commence at 3pm in front of Central/ Classical High School onto Westminster Street. The youth led march will continue to the Public Safety Complex, where the crowd will stand in front of the building and have a moment of silence. The moment of silence is in respect to those who have been abused or died due to racial profiling, including Trayvon Martin. The march will continue to the Smith Street side of the State House where speakers from various community organizations will demand legislators to put the bill to vote.
Currently, the Comprehensive Racial Prevention Act is being held in committee in both the RI House (H-7256) and Senate (S-2252). This is the sixth year that a coalition of community, labor, legislative, and legal rights groups have been trying to pass the bill. The passage of comprehensive legislation would restrict some of the police practice that the organizations believe encourage racial profiling. Independent studies of police traffic stops, in the state, have shown that police are much more likely to stop and search black and Latino drivers, even though white drivers are more likely to be found with contraband.
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Groups have set up a website where people can fill out a form to document their racial profiling experience, as well as view a video produced by PrYSM and Youth in Action, with various testimonies of racial profiling in Providence, RI. The website can be viewed at www.ristopracialprofiling.com/
The march is completely organized by young people who feel that every day, people of color in their communities continue to be targeted, searched, and harassed by police- the very people who are supposed to protect them.
Speakers on the march include representatives from Providence Youth Student Movement, Direct Action for Rights and Equality, the We Are All Arizona Coalition, the Olneyville Neighborhood Association, Coalition Against Racial Profiling, and the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association.
