Reflections on MLK Day, police brutality, and the racist roots of police unions

As we reflect on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights activists, we recognize that the truth Dr. King spoke in his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in 1963 remains a crucial demand of the movement over 50 years later: “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”

We remember the power that police exerted—and continue to exert—against civil rights movements. We acknowledge the role of police unions in preventing meaningful police reform and protecting police officers from punishment even for shocking civil rights violations, just as police unions functioned in Dr. King’s day. We recommend this article written by Chicago police misconduct attorney Flint Taylor, which describes the role police unions have played supporting the status quo and resisting the civil rights movement.