Better Life Lab Statement on Police Brutality and Structural Racism

The following statement can be attributed to Brigid Schulte, Director of the Better Life Lab at New America:

"The Better Life Lab team stands in solidarity with all protesters and people outraged by the murder of George Floyd, another unarmed Black person, at the hands of a white officer sworn to protect them and by the murder of Breonna Taylor, a black woman sleeping in her home, killed by police officers executing a knockless search warrant. We stand with Black-led organizations demanding changes to police practices and the reallocation of state and local dollars and with multi-racial coalitions of activists and individuals who are demanding a new vision of America and a safer, more equitable, and more just country and world.

"At the Lab, we envision a nation where people of all genders and racial and ethnic identities thrive, with decent, dignified work and time for care and connection across the arc of their lives. That will take dismantling the heavy, discriminatory and rotten systems and false narratives that are willfully designed to oppress people of color and preserve the status quo.

"Eliminating the threat of police violence and harassment is a precondition for achieving any of the goals that make up our Lab's mission and vision. White supremacy is a fundamental threat to life and to families' constitutionally guaranteed right to survive and thrive.

"Racism, and the many ugly forms through which it manifests—like the belief that some families are deserving and others are not—is a barrier, an obstacle to achieving the policy solutions that we know families and people in America need now more than ever.

"We cannot talk about issues pertaining to economic justice like redesigning work and instituting family-supportive policies such as paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, and childcare support without discussing racial injustice—both have historically been and still are integrally linked to one another. Widespread public and bipartisan support for a universal, high-quality, affordable childcare system with significant investment from the government was vetoed by then-President Richard M. Nixon, in part, because conservative voices argued against “race mixing.” Our social safety net has never been designed to catch all people when they fall and help lift them to self sufficiency. It is deliberately punitive.

"We cannot reach gender equality without ending racial inequality, because the two intersect and have a compounding impact on the lives of Black people, of Black women, and all people of color who must navigate daily the minefield of stereotypes, labels, and misconceptions of fundamental “otherness” assigned to marginalized identities.

"We cannot elevate the value of care in the 21st century without recognizing the historical and contemporary structures, systems, and attitudes which render the act of caregiving more difficult for marginalized communities and families, especially Black families. Caregiving is not a privilege; it is a necessity for human development, health, and flourishing. We cannot elevate the value of care without recognizing that the vast majority of those we rely on for care are disproportionately Black and Brown women who we value so little that they earn poverty wages with no benefits, making it virtually impossible for them to sustain and care for their own families.

"We will achieve a society that enables all people in the United States to thrive across the arc of their lives only when we acknowledge, protest against, and do the hard work to ultimately dismantle the systems, structures, and practices—economic, political, social—which have robbed generations of Black families of equal opportunity, agency, wealth, health, and life. This is the work that we at the Better Life Lab are committed to do."

"#BlackLivesMatter today and everyday.

"In solidarity,
"The Better Life Lab Team"

For more information on the details or significance of the Biden plan or the broader paid leave landscape, please contact Brigid Schulte, schulte@newamerica.org.