Bulletin: Rest in Power, Walter Wallace Jr.

Statement from the Philly DSA Racial Justice Committee on the Walter Wallace murder

The Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is outraged and distraught at the murder of Walter Wallace Jr. Monday night by the Philadelphia Police Department, while his mother watched. Another Black man has been killed needlessly in our streets. Mr. Wallace should be alive today. We extend our condolences to Mr. Wallace’s family and community.

This shooting is a tragic example of why reform of the PPD has failed. Mr. Wallace posed no immediate threat to the officers. Officers did not engage in de-escalation tactics, but instead shot at Mr. Wallace more than a dozen times. The police are not social workers. They are not counselors. And yet, time after time, they are summoned to Black working class neighborhoods where they have no connection to the community. When put in a situation where they have no standing, the police are more likely to escalate, rather than de-escalate. 

It’s hard not to compare this incident to the numerous encounters that the PPD had with armed, violent white supremacists in South Philly and Fishtown earlier this year, where no shots were fired. Now, after Mr. Wallace’s murder, the President of the Fraternal Order of Police has issued a statement calling for sympathy for the police officers. Racism and white supremacy is deeply embedded in the PPD. Officers do not value Black lives as much as they value white ones. Black Lives Matter.

This Week in Unions

Are you a union worker affected by the coronavirus crisis? Are you organizing in your shop or workplace to demand higher safety and sanitation standards? PHLDSA’s Labor Commission is convening a series of calls where representatives from unions in the greater Philadelphia area are discussing and coordinating responses. Email Paul Prescod for more information.

• Philadelphia's AFSCME DC33, which represents blue-collar city workers, has new leadership! The winning slate includes Omar Salaam from the sanitation workers, who Philly DSA has worked with on actions pressing the city for PPE and hazard pay.
• Philadelphia teachers in the PFT, after calling for a strike vote, got a deal for a 1-year contract.
• Members of Philly DSA joined Teamsters Local 623 and the fat cat for all three days of last week's picket against UPS's new union-busting, split-rate policy.