Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton called for unity and action to bridge the divide between minority communities and those who police them as she visited Charlotte, the North Carolina city rocked by riots after the recent killing of a black man by a police officer.
"There are some out there who see this as a moment to fan the flames of resentment and division, who want to exploit peoples' fears even though it means tearing our nation even further apart," Clinton said Sunday. "They say that all of our problems would be solved simply by more law and order, as if the systemic racism plaguing our country doesn't exist.' She didn't mention her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, as she spoke at Little Rock African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a historically black congregation near where protests were held after the Sept. 20 shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.
"It has been 12 days since Mr. Scott was shot and killed. Twelve days since his wife, Rakeyia Scott, watched her husband die, and seven children lost their father," Clinton said. "We don't yet know all the details about the shooting, but we do know this community and this family is in pain."
Clinton said safe neighborhoods and freedom for black Americans are not mutually exclusive. "Of course we need safe neighborhoods, no one is against that. Of course we need communities that are free from the epidemic of gun violence. Of course we need that," she said. "But we also need justice and dignity and equality. And we can have both. This is not an either or question for America. I want us to commit ourselves to this common vision."
Clinton has made criminal justice and civil rights issues a core of her campaign. Her first policy speech as a presidential candidate, in April 2015, came in after the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore as she called for the rebalancing of a criminal justice system that she said has become misaligned. Since then, she's spoken out after several major clashes between police and their communities, some that have left civilians dead and others, as in Dallas and Baton Rouge, in which police died.
"It's been a hard year, hasn't it?" Clinton said. "Think about how many times President Obama has had to console our nation about another senseless tragedy, another shattered family, another distressed community."
