Thousands take part in Fairfax NAACP rally for racial justice

At last 2,000 people – of all races and ages – gathered for a Car Rally for Justice for Black Lives sponsored by the Fairfax County NAACP at the Fairfax Government Center June 3.

The signs carried by participants reflected anger at the murder of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street by a police officer – and the long history of racial injustice and police brutality in the United States. Among the slogans: “Black Lives Matter,” “I can’t breathe,” “No justice no peace,” “End white silence.” 

“Our nation is on fire” said Fairfax County NAACP President Sean Perryman.

“We’re living through a global pandemic with 100,000 Americans dead of COVID-19; 40 million are unemployed, and so many countless more are struggling and suffering. And yet with all that going on, we have to stand up here today to stand up against racial injustice,” Perryman said. 

“Let that sink in. In 2020, you all have to risk your lives from a virus so you can save our lives from racism,” he said.

Perryman decried the vacuum of leadership noting that none of our elected leaders are incapable of responding to these crises. “While we are here in the street, the governor and the president are holed up in their mansions.”

“Just a few weeks ago,” he said, “thousands of men, some armed with assault rifles, rushed state capitols to protest having to wear a mask. They all rushed state capitols because they were oppressed because they had to stay at home. But they weren’t met with teargas. They weren’t chased through the streets. They weren’t terrorized by those who swore to protect them. We were. That indignity is saved for black people.” 

A few weeks ago, the government couldn’t get us COVID tests or PPE or help for the unemployed, “but now they could get an endless supply of teargas and rubber bullets and any kind of weapon you can imagine.” Perryman said. “This goes beyond political ideology. This goes beyond political affiliation. This is about government failing us.”

Perryman offered a quote from the late congressman Elijah Cummings: “We are fighting for the soul of our democracy.”  

He urged the crowd to commit to ending systemic racism, to ending white supremacy, to making sure there is not another George Floyd. “Enough is enough. We need this to end.” 

Marlon Dubuisson, chair of the Fairfax County NAACP’s Young Adult Committee, urged “our white brothers and sisters to stand with us” and “use your privilege in solidarity.” 

He urged people to stand up against microagressions, such as “when police pull you over and give no reason why and when you go to the mall to shop and get followed around for no reason.”  

“To be silent right now is to be complicit,” Dubuisson said. 

“You have righteous anger. I have righteous anger at my profession,” Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. told the crowd. 

Roessler called for “more reform in law enforcement in the United States, noting that the FCPD lives by a vision of “ethical leadership through engagement.” 

According to Roessler, the FCPD’s mission includes “protecting the sanctity of all human life,” as well as fighting crime. “We are held accountable through a civilian review commission and an independent police auditor.” 

“Chief Roessler is not my enemy,” Perryman said. “My enemy is injustice. The enemy is systematic racism. The enemy is complacency. The enemy is the same old racial status quo.”