EMILYs List Responds to Police Violence Protests Around the Country

For Immediate Release
June 1, 2020

EMILY's List Responds to Police Violence Protests Around the Country

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, the nation's largest organization for women in politics, released the following statement in response to the recent police violence protests happening around the country:

“The past few months have brought many reminders of the deep-seated racism poisoning our nation. From the disgusting treatment of Christian Cooper to the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

We are all moved painfully by these devastating acts of racism. But I want to recognize that as a white woman, my emotional anger is nothing in comparison to the devastation and fear that Black Americans face every day.

And what is clear to me is that we cannot support Black women running for office and be silent. We cannot support reproductive justice for all and be silent in this moment.

And we cannot expect support from Black voters if we are silent about the threat of death and violence that Black people carry with them daily. 

These recent events have all been made doubly painful by the dangerous actions and systemic failure of leadership from President Trump. At a time when we need to see real leadership at all levels, he has chosen to fan the flames of racism and bigotry and to use the military against Americans protesting for their rights.

It shouldn't be this way. Each of us needs to do our part to fight injustice when we see it and to elect leaders that will fix this broken system and hold power accountable.

The road to a better future is long and will continue to be challenging. We plan to walk it each step of the way. 

And as Stacey Abrams has said, “…their actions will be on the ballot in November.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 50,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices.