Racism, in its many forms, must be identified, acknowledged, and rooted out wherever it is found. Whether in education, healthcare, housing, or hiring, Connecticut Democrats affirm that negative outcomes for people of color are the end results of racist policies and discriminatory practices, that these practices often constitute a public health crisis, and we are committed to permanently correcting the systems that produce them.

Those systems include the criminal-legal system, where over-policing and over-incarceration have caused historic and deep-seated destruction of families and communities. We are committed to the reform, the repair, and whenever necessary the dismantling of racist policies within it.

We recognize that anti-Black racism is deeply embedded in American institutions and has shaped many of the inequities that persist today, and we are committed to confronting anti-Blackness directly wherever it exists — in policy, institutions, and public life.

Racism has many faces: xenophobia against Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Asian communities, antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-immigrant hatred, and forms we have yet to name. We condemn all of it — and we commit not just to standing against these attacks on our neighbors, but to standing for them, especially when doing so carries risk.

That commitment begins inside our own Party. Racism and disregard have no place in our Town Committees, our caucuses, or at our tables. We recognize that historically marginalized communities bring heavier histories and more direct connection to the effects of racism to this work, and we commit to working through our differences with deference to those most impacted.

Racial justice is a collective responsibility. Only by confronting racism in all its forms can we build a democracy that truly serves all people.

Return to Platform Page