Update: SLO County protest leaders voice support for anti-racism march after initial concerns
Update, 9 p.m.
R.A.C.E. Matters SLO County leaders revised their position on Friday’s protest after receiving additional information about the non-violent nature of the demonstration and learning of the Cal Poly Black Student Union’s involvement.
“After hearing from the organizers at the Cal Poly Black Student Union, and learning of their leadership role and intentions, we support them,” said Courtney Haile, co-founder of R.A.C.E. Matters.
“After initial concerns due to a lack of clarity, once we were in touch with representation from the BSU and learned about their intentions and leadership, we fully support them in using their voice to take direct action against injustice,” Haile said. “Unfortunately, we learned this shortly before the event and are deeply sorry we weren’t aware of their involvement.”
Original story:
A group of black San Luis Obispo County protest leaders on Friday denounced a planned event that organizers claim will respect a “diversity of tactics.”
A “Call to Action” protest being organized by the Cal Poly Black Student Union, Cal Poly Students for Quality Eduation (SQE) and black/indigenous/students of color at Cal Poly and is planned for Friday at 5 p.m. at Mission Plaza, according to the Cal Poly Black Student Union Facebook page and a flyer being distributed online.
Protesters will demonstrate in favor of defunding the police and investing in “affirming, life-giving spending for black/indigenous/people of color,” the flyer says. It also claims a “diversity of tactics will be respected.”
The Black Student Union Facebook page says the protest will be peaceful and that “diversity of tactics” means “we are peaceful and nonviolent, but we don’t condemn people who choose not to follow the police’s orders” and “we don’t put each other unnecessarily at risk.”
Organizers also encourage white protesters to show up to protect “particularly the black and native folks at this protest.”
On Friday afternoon, R.A.C.E. Matters SLO County and Young Black Leadership — including Tianna Arata and Cal Poly football players Jalen Hamler and Xavier Moore — released a statement on Facebook saying they’re not affiliated with the event and won’t be in attendance.
They also discourage attendance, “especially by black people, who will (bear) the brunt of the consequences.”
The protest leaders have organized events all week to demonstrate against racism and police brutality. They’ve joined protesters across the country who began leading marches and rallies after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
R.A.C.E. Matters SLO County, Arata, Moore and Hamler — alongside the county’s chapter of the NAACP — helped organize peaceful rallies and protests in San Luis Obispo that drew thousands of people on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The organizers said they “engage in, and support, only nonviolent direct action to demand change.”
“There is a protest planned for today at 5 p.m. that welcomes a ‘diversity of tactics,’ and is therefore not a commitment to be an exclusively nonviolent protest. We have reached out to many organizations to express our concerns.”
The leaders also said the protest held on Monday, which ended with marchers being tear-gassed by San Luis Obispo police, “was escalated by police, and riot gear is not only traumatizing, but escalation in itself.”
“Any violent tactic used this evening will be a setback, in a moment where we are making demand to see much less riot gear used, and doing the hard work to make sure changes comes to fruition in SLO County,” the statement says.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 3:46 PM.
