The past few months have confirmed for many what the African-American community already knew–this country will continue to treat Black lives as disposable, unless we take-action.
As we (NAACP) continue to fight for equitable relief for communities of color through policy and community development, this becomes our finest moment as the voice for Black America to stand firmly and say we will no longer stand idle as our people are discriminated against, marginalized and offered as disposable for poor decisions by this Administration. We are done being quiet, done being overlooked, done settling- #WeAreDoneDying
With this mission and resolve in mind, the NAACP has launched its #WeAreDoneDying social media advocacy campaign beginning on Thursday, May 7th, 2020. The campaign focuses on highlighting the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the African-American community and the NAACP policy demands needed from the state and federal levels of government.
Objectives:
- Amplify the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the African American community
- Demand legislation that would thwart racial inequities that have been highlighted as a result of this pandemic.
NAACP Demands
Healthcare:
• Demand that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) immediately release comprehensive and consistent information by race on COVID-19 testing, cases and outcomes.
• Demand state leaders dismiss or reconsider any notion of reopening their state until we have developed streamlined, aggressive testing and contract-tracing operations in place so that new cases can be isolated and treated.
• Demand legislators expand eligibility for affordable health care options and invest in long-term health care and health care education in the areas where people live.
Criminal Justice:
• Demand legislators and officials to identify those who should be immediately released to ensure jails and prisons do not become epicenters for outbreak and take action to secure such release.
Economic:
• Demand legislators support black-owned small business specific economic relief funding in the upcoming stimulus relief packages, and increase safety nets for workers and families, and take sweeping measures to eliminate individual and family debt.
Voting:
• Demand state and local officials adopt multiple measures to ensure voting is safe and accessible and that voters and poll workers are not sacrificing personal safety and health in order to participate the democratic process.
Education:
• Demand legislators expand broadband access across the country, with particular investments in rural and low-income communities, to establish a national standards for distance learning that meets quality and accessibility requirements.