‘Defund the Police’ Splits the Black Caucus. Or Does It?
What will the “conscience of Congress” look like now?
A protesters chanted “Defund the police.” They scrawled the phrase on signs, emblazoned it on banners, and painted it on streets. But among the Congressional Black Caucus, which likes to call itself the “conscience of Congress,” many lawmakers who shared the protesters’ rage did not join the chorus. “That’s probably one of the worst slogans ever,” Representative Karen Bass, the chair of the group, told , before quickly pivoting to a discussion on how substance-abuse or mental-health issues should not be handled by police. Other members of the CBC toed the same line: policing. the police. “What the that the activists pushing the idea be heard.
