• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • The State Of R&B
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Politics

Kamala Harris To Mitch McConnell: 'Not Here To Play Games' On Police Reform

The California Senator is expressing frustration over what she calls a "hollow" attempt at police reform.
By Tanya A. Christian · Updated December 6, 2020

It’s been a week of heated discussions in the halls of Congress, as lawmakers work on bringing widespread police reform throughout the nation in the form of new legislation. On Tuesday, Sen. Kamala Harris took to the Senate floor to weigh-in on what she believes is an attempt from GOP Senators to avoid the conversation at the core of a national uprising.  

Last week South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican Senator in Congress, introduced the JUSTICE Act which he claimed looked at long-term solutions focused on police reform, accountability and transparency. The legislation also addressed finding solutions to systemic issues affecting people of color such as education and health disparities. But Democrats and other critics of the bill, say it doesn’t actually speak to the misconduct that has caused so many Black lives to be taken at the hands of the police.

Article continues after video.

“Let us all be clear on what is happening in the politics of this moment. The Republican bill has been thrown out to give lip service to an issue with nothing substantial in it, that would actually save or would have saved any of those lives,” Harris asserted. “Let’s not be distracted.”

I will vote NO on advancing the Republicans’ policing bill. It was thrown out to give lip service to the moment at hand with nothing substantial in it.

We need real reform. pic.twitter.com/x2pzFBnam0

— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) June 23, 2020

Republicans have blamed Democrats for stalling on police reform as they try to move their legislation forward. But Democrats say voting “yes” for the JUSTICE act will do little to nothing to move the country forward or answer the calls of the protesters who are demanding that policing in America undergo a radical change. The notion that the left is not interested in advancing the cause — simply because they do not wish to advance in the same way the GOP is suggesting — has brought a level of frustration for Harris and her Democratic colleagues.

“For all of the pundits out there that want to entertain a conversation about whether Democrats actually want police reform — are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” Harris scoffed. “We are responding to the cries in the street. We are taking them seriously. And we have proposed a prescription that actually responds to not just their demands, but the specific cases and the bodies that have just most recently been buried much less the generations of Black bodies that have been buried because of this issue. So, don’t you dare suggest that we are standing in the way of progress.”

Kamala Harris To Mitch McConnell: ‘Not Here To Play Games’ On Police Reform
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 23: U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) listens during a news conference following the Democrats weekly policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol June 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

After Harris left the floor she reflected on the Senate discussions saying, “Mitch McConnell has put up a hollow policing bill to bait us into playing his political games. But we’re not here to play games. And I do not intend to be played.”

Wednesday afternoon Harris voted “no” on advancing the GOP’s JUSTICE Act. The Senate ultimately voted to block the Republican’s police reform bill, voting 55-45. The legislation fell 5 votes shy of the 60 “ayes” necessary to move forward. 

TOPICS:  Ahmaud Arbery Black Lives Matter Breonna Taylor essence Essence News george floyd injustice JUSTICE Act kamala harris Mitch McConnell Police Brutality police reform Politics protest Racism Tim Scott
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now