Columbus Urban League calls for Monday economic protest

Courtesy of NBC4

Posted: May 31, 2020

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Columbus Urban League Young Professionals are taking a stand against what’s happened this week.

The organization is calling it a new and peaceful way to fight systemic racism and plans a different kind of peaceful protest Monday.

Leaders with the group said they know not everyone who wants to can or feels comfortable coming downtown to protest.

It’s part of the reason the group is planning a different kind of protest…an economic protest.

The organization just announced the plans Sunday afternoon and want it to go nationwide, calling for not just young professionals but all professionals of all races who can to call out of work as a form of economic protest.

President of the Columbus Urban League Young Professionals said what happened with George Floyd and other incidents of police brutality is just the tip of the iceberg of systemic racism, which he said is made even worse by economic inequality.

The group wants to see the other officers charged and say corporate America has a role to play when it comes to fighting for economic inequality.

“This problem of racial inequality, this problem of the systemic racism, it doesn’t stop at city hall, it doesn’t stop at the White House,” said Nick Bankston, president of Columbus Urban League Young Professionals. “It is penetrated in our corporations and it is penetrated in every single institution this country is built on.”

“Really what we’re saying is we want you to see us,” said Stephanie Hightower, president and CEO of the Columbus Urban League. “That’s what these young professionals are saying to me, that’s what they said to me last night. I want to make sure that my CEO sees me.”

For the people who do call out, Bankston also wants them to make sure they’ve done the census and are registered to vote.

by: Eric Halperin

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