Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys Roundtable on Racial Profiling, Tuesday

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL), co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys, will host a roundtable discussion on policing in communities of color, entitled "Racial Profiling – What Next after Ferguson and New York City," on Tuesday, March 3, at 1:00 p.m. in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building (House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Room). The roundtable, coming the day after the release of the President's Task Force Report on 21st Century Policing, will provide the first opportunity for Members of Congress to hear the findings, ask questions, and offer comments. The event is open to the public. The roundtable will feature White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing Co-Chair and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles "Chuck" Ramsey. Also featured will be Howard University Student Government President Leighton Watson, who helped organize demonstrations in the District of Columbia after Ferguson and spent a weekend on the ground in Ferguson, and will offer the perspectives of young people who have made profiling of people of color a national issue.

"Nationwide protests in the wake of Ferguson and New York City brought racial profiling center stage and the President responded with his Task Force on 21st Century Policing," Norton said. "The public's engagement on a racial issue is at a level we have not seen since the civil rights era. The time is ripe to focus on what the nation intends to do about one of the oldest racial issues."

"We often hear commentators and critics suggest that the powerful nationwide response to the growing epidemic of police violence and its links to racial profiling lacks leaders and a clear strategy," Davis said. "These views are not only incorrect and easily refutable but fundamentally fail to appreciate what is new in this current stage of the struggle for justice and equality. This roundtable will explore those dynamics and the way forward.

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