DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and Black Caucus Chair Virgie Rollins released the following statement on Black History Month:

“This month, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of Black Americans to our nation. We laud the achievements of heroes like John Lewis and Elijah Cummings; Pauli Murray and Ella Baker; Katherine Johnson and Fannie Lou Hamer; Marsha P. Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr, C.T. Vivian, and so many others who have enriched our world. But while we celebrate their accomplishments, we also recognize the obstacles they faced day in and day out because of the color of their skin. We recognize the gap that remains between our nation’s founding promise of equality and the still unequal reality of being Black in America. We see these inequities and injustices in every corner of our society – from health care and housing to climate change and criminal justice. We saw it last year in the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many other lives taken by systemic racism. And we saw it in the double standard law enforcement showed when handling peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters last year compared to the violent insurrection at the Capitol.

“So there is no doubt that the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow echo across our nation every day. But we have hope for a brighter future. For in the same month that we saw confederate flags flying into the Capitol, we also saw the swearing in of our nation’s first Black vice president. We witnessed the election of Georgia’s first Black senator. And we celebrated the selection of the DNC’s third Black party chair, who stands on the shoulders of giants like Ron Brown and Donna Brazile. This progress was the product of hard work, of grassroots organizing, of countless Black activists standing up and speaking out for what we believe in. As we celebrate Black History Month, let us also rededicate ourselves to the cause of justice and equality for all. The Biden-Harris administration is already hard at work advancing racial equity across the country, and the DNC is here to support them every step of the way.”