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LISTEN: Black LGBT leader Nadine Smith in-depth on systemic racism

ORLANDO, Fla. — Black Lives Matter protests have not stopped in America since the death of George Floyd, turning the conversation in Washington D.C. to public safety and systemic racism.

“Public opinion has shifted on this issue,” said Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith.

Smith recently joined other black LGBTQ+ advocates for a virtual town hall on racism and hate in America.

“People believe there’s something significantly wrong in our criminal justice system, in our policing, that has to be addressed,” she said.  “The other part is police are being called in to stand in the gap where the social safety net has been shredded over decades of defunding.”

She uses the example of how police are often called to deal with a situation involving mental illness when they’re not trained to handle that.

“Instead of sending in someone who’s skilled and trained to assist, you send in someone who has a gun on their hip and is trained to subdue and detain.  These are incompatible purposes.  And I think increasingly, people are looking at what is the proper role of an armed law enforcement agent versus what are the proper structures to actually secure public safety.”

Listen to Nadine Smith’s entire discussion on this topic:

(App users tap here to listen)

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