OLYMPIA—June 11, 2020—I want to make a very clear acknowledgment of this remarkable time in America where we are once again looking in the mirror at the systemic racism that has permeated our world.

I want to unequivocally make clear the condemnation and the sense of frustration and injustice at the murders of our fellow citizens.

This is not new. And it is, sadly, the work of all of us.

We have an obligation to not let this just be a moment that goes by, as it has in the past.

This nation was founded upon fundamental principles of racism and gender discrimination – they were baked right into our U.S. Constitution. And what has subsequently been the case is to make those institutionalized. They are permanent systems in virtually everything that we do; they are in our housing systems, our banking systems, they are in our education systems, our criminal justice systems, and so much more.

It is our work to address this and this national phenomenon that’s occurring right now, and it is, in some ways, not like anything we have ever seen before.

It has often been led by young people, and they are tired. Our communities of color are tired of this experience. They need allies, and we have a responsibility to be that.

Our Black Americans are often most impacted by this systemic racism: They are twice as likely to be killed by police. They are three times as likely to be incarcerated, showing that it has been an unjust system for a long time. And when they are twice as likely to get sick from COVID, it’s also clearly in our health care system and in the way we respond to a virus.

There is a system that underwrites the whole thing, though, and that’s economic injustice. We can make arrests, and we can change laws at the federal, local, or state level.

But the systemic discrimination and bias against communities of color accessing capital and accessing resources, and at times, not accessing education equitably – it disempowers, and it causes us to regress.

So, let us take this moment to help our young people, who are leading this in many ways, to realize that this is about police violence, but that is one symptom of a much bigger system

I want to challenge our policymakers at the federal level, at the state level, and at the local level. We are about ready to hit another recession – we are probably already in it – and this is not the moment to go back to those systems of oppression through austerity.

In a recession, cutting budgets is often our first value, and it is fundamentally a privileged value. It protects those who already have, and does the most damage to those who need support.

I am challenging all of us, in the spaces we are in, to be an ally. As a white man of privilege, I have a responsibility to be an ally and to fight in the spaces in which I am empowered. As our State Superintendent, I intend to continue doing that.

We will be fighting aggressively for the resources for our communities and our education system, and we challenge policymakers and lawmakers to think first and foremost about the resources necessary to sustain and build communities.

Now, I’m also very hopeful. This has been a pretty amazing last 10 years if you think about what is happening, particularly our young people leading. They aren’t “future leaders,” they are the loudest and, sometimes, most powerful voices with the best organization.

They have been telling us for a long time about climate change, and their hunger to have it be different. They have been telling us for a very, very long time about gun violence, and how it uniquely impacts them in their communities. They have been telling us about the horrific system of trying to finance higher education without a lifetime of debt.

And now, they are telling us that they want to join communities who have been struggling for 400 years and be partners in the work of racial equity and racial justice.

Our young people give me hope.