UAW Region 9A Director Beverley Brakeman on the Violence Surrounding the Electoral College Certification

UAW Region 9A condemns today’s assault on our Nation’s Capitol building. An assault that was not only instigated but perpetrated by a sitting President to prevent a peaceful transition of power.  

At the very moment we watched angry pro-Trump rioters attack our Capitol building, we learned that Jon Ossoff won his US Senate race. The people have spoken - Joe Biden is our President Elect and Georgia Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rafael Warnock are our newest US Senators-Elect. The Democrats will have the Presidency, the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate for the first time since 2010 – an opportunity we cannot afford to waste.

Today’s attacks, while traumatizing, hateful, and racist, were expected. Why? Because they were incited by Trump, in an effort to overturn this election. And yet, police and law enforcement personnel onsite appeared unprepared and paralyzed.

Months back however, when supporters of Black Lives Matter went to DC peacefully demanding justice, those same police and law enforcement were frighteningly prepared to intimidate, silence and hurt – and they were very effective.

While we cannot ignore the racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, classist, and hate-filled beliefs that fueled today’s attacks, we can learn from it and we can do better.  

Republicans must be held accountable for encouraging such desperate attempts to hold on to power while millions of people suffer from COVID-19 and its economic fallout - both of which have disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities. Democrats, now in power, must be challenged to do better and to be bold.

UAW Region 9A calls on our lawmakers to come together, respect the people’s vote and move forward together with labor fighting for working families, defending our democracy and closing the increasingly unfair and unjust income inequality gap plaguing this country and its people.

No Justice – No Peace.

Thanks to WSLC President Larry Brown and Secretary Treasurer April Sims for their article in The Stand that helped to inspire and shape this statement.

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