/ Modified jun 5, 2020 3:09 p.m.

Protests in Tucson, nationwide, shine spotlight on systemic racism

A discussion with community organizers and Black Lives Matter Tucson member Lola Rainey.

With a statewide curfew in effect, demonstrations persisted in Tucson in response to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Various protests are also calling attention to systemic racism in the United States. Arizona 360 heard from community organizer and Black Lives Matter Tucson member Lola Rainey about the outcry.

“The soul of America has been dead and that’s why you have people in the streets. We’re saying, ‘You cannot continue to extract all this from us and then deny us the ability to live, to breathe,’” Rainey said. “What kind of world can we exist in if we are not allowed to even breathe, to even walk down the street without being profiled and murdered by state agents.”

Rainey said that unless effective change happens, protests concerning racial injustice will continue to destabilize the country.

“It cannot be a world leader with all this internal turmoil and conflict. How can you maintain social order when there’s that type of resentment and anger?” Rainey said. “I think we have the ability to survive this and come out better, but it’s up to us.”

Arizona 360
Arizona 360 airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on PBS 6 and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on PBS 6 PLUS. See more from Arizona 360.
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