SURJ Team

In the wake of the murders in Buffalo, NY last week, the cost of unchecked white supremacist activity could not be more obvious. Here in Buffalo, we continue to grieve the loss of life and immense impact felt by Black people and people of color in our community. 

I am clearer than ever that to fight back against this kind of racist violence, we must be organizing white people away from white nationalism and into multiracial movements for justice. Yesterday, myself, other SURJ National Staff members, and leaders in our Buffalo chapter spoke with NPR to talk about our work of organizing against white supremacist activity in the area. Listen to the 7 minute clip on NPR’s All Things Considered where we share about white people’s role in fighting white nationalism.

“We’re in a battle, SURJ National Director Erin Heaney says, for white people because the Far Right has been pouring vast sums into winning them over to the belief that Black and Brown people are to blame for their problems.” 

And it is exactly these moments where SURJ intervenes– to find white people looking for meaning for their suffering and to organize them to fight back against the wealthy elite, and not their neighbors of color.

From acute white supremacist violence to the erosion of voting rights, the stakes of letting the Right build unchecked power in white communities are incredibly high. And yet, we know from our work in places like Buffalo that our organizing can and does move people to join the work of justice.

We are building lasting infrastructure to grow progressive power in Kentucky for the long haul. Despite the defeat of Attica Scott in a Democratic primary on Tuesday, we are inspired, driven, and hopeful. Landscapes don’t shift overnight– and this is just the beginning of the momentum we are building to carry into the days and years ahead.

Progressive victories led by Black women in Georgia in 2020 and 2021 showed the nation that transforming conditions requires a commitment to building power for the long-haul, not just in election cycles.

We knew that Attica – a working class, Black mother who has a long history of standing up for justice– was the underdog, facing off with a millionaire lawyer who received donations from the likes of billionaire tech bros. Instead of relying on high dollar donations, we ran our campaign on people power- and moved thousands of white Louisvillians to see their futures tied up with the movement values Attica stands for. As Attica wrote, “It took nearly $2 million to defeat our people-powered campaign.”

I am proud that over 200 SURJ members from the Louisville chapter and National Membership program contacted 133,471 white voters in KY-03 to organize them to support Attica Scott. In white working class precincts where we knocked doors, support for Attica was over 7 points higher than in similar precincts where we did not canvass. And the campaign has been a strong catalyst for recruiting new SURJ members and moving seasoned SURJ members deeper into action. As one LSURJ member, Lindsay, shared with us:

“Working with SURJ has given me hope. It’s been this galvanizing force that it is possible to organize people who don’t have a lot of funding behind them to fight for what’s right and to fight for all of us. The racial justice side of it is what got me into it- and now I see how possible it is to politically mobilize and go up against the corporate establishment Democrats who have just completely failed us- and how interconnected all of this work is.”

We have our work cut out for us in the days ahead. We’ll continue mobilizing white people to support progressive people of color in Kentucky, Georgia, and other key states leading up to the midterms. And we’ll be organizing in those communities long after the elections to make sure the work continues.

I am writing to you from my hometown of Buffalo, a place I deeply love and whose history and politics have led me to my anti-racism.

I am heartbroken yet not surprised that over the weekend a white man, fueled by white nationalist ideology, shot and killed 10 people in a Black neighborhood on the East Side of Buffalo. Our hearts are with the families who lost loved ones in this violent, racist attack and with our Black and Brown neighbors who feel this event deeply.

Today, like so many days in America – a country plagued by racist violence – we are all asking ourselves what to do in response. The solutions are not simple, but I have so much faith that if we organize, we will win. 

Gun control alone isn’t sufficient. Neither is holding a single person responsible. We need solutions that address the underlying problems. The conditions we are living in are the result of decades of deep investment by the Right. They do this with the aim of hoarding power, manufacturing fear through lies, and organizing white people to align themselves with white supremacy. 

I’ve seen it play out in Buffalo throughout my entire life. 

I was born just a few years after all the steel plants closed in the region. In just a few years, nearly 30,000 jobs were lost. Then, NAFTA continued the decline of manufacturing throughout my town. 

People in power in both parties didn’t take responsibility or find solutions, but instead used racist scapegoating to blame communities of color for our suffering. In this environment, organized white nationalist groups have grown, the Republican Party has embraced white nationalist groups and platforms, and the Democrats have largely remained silent on issues of race. 

Today, racist scapegoating has been replaced by explicit white nationalist ideology like the replacement theory that was espoused by the shooter this week. Erie County has the second highest number of people charged with participating in the January 6th insurrection in the entire country. Our former Sheriff had ties to the Aryan Nation and Proud Boys. A billionaire Congressperson from the region, Chris Jacobs, voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election. 

For the last 40 years, the Right and those in power have invested billions of dollars to mainstream what used to be fringe, racist ideologies. Buffalo isn’t unique- these trends are playing out in communities across the country. While the Far Right fills school board seats and passes laws banning honest curriculum about race and racism, media companies allow white supremacist organizations to recruit young people and spread hateful propaganda like the ‘great replacement theory.’

We must work together to interrupt white nationalism and instead build multiracial solidarity. The solution lies with building a more powerful movement across the country- flanking communities of color who are leading the fight for a multiracial democracy and organizing mass numbers of majority-white communities away from white nationalism. 

Here’s what you can do today to take action in solidarity with Buffalo:

• Join SURJ and our partners on the ground in Buffalo on Tuesday, May 17 at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET for a call, “Mourn and Organize: a Call for White People in Response to Buffalo” where together we’ll grieve the senseless loss of life and hear from organizers in Buffalo about how to show up in solidarity 
• Talk to three white people in your life and ask them to join you in recommitting to racial justice. Have them sign up with SURJ and join our new member orientation on June 9 at 5 PT / 8 ET day. 
• Make a gift to Black Love Resists in the Rust, who are organizing on the ground in Buffalo fighting white supremacy and anti-Black racism.

Despite the heartbreak and rage, I am hopeful. Because while the Right is strong here in my community, so is the movement fighting back against racism and for change. For years, our local SURJ chapter has been fighting the Right- working to unseat a racist Sheriff, knocking on doors in neighborhoods where white supremacists groups were recruiting, and fighting alongside Black-led abolitionist organizations to divest resources from racist institutions like the police and prisons. Over the years, we have also grown the base of white people participating in multiracial movements for justice and undermining white supremacy. And I have every faith we can out-organize them. 

I’m in this in the long haul and I know you are too. I’ll see you Tuesday to mourn– and then get back to organizing. 

-Erin Heaney, SURJ National Director

Can you imagine a working class Black woman from Kentucky- who was a leader in the uprisings against police brutality in Louisville in 2020- elected to US Congress to challenge the power of Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul?

Attica Scott- and progressive, justice-aligned people of color candidates like her- are part of our collective path forward to beat the Right and build a multiracial democracy. 

The Far Right and corporate politicians are working to dismantle the foundations of democracy and move a racist agenda that serves no one but those at the top. To effectively fight back, we need so much more than the moderate, stay-the-course candidates the Democratic party is currently running. We know that individual candidates aren’t going to save us, but values-aligned elected officials are a part of the landscape in which we’ll win real change.

On the heels of a strong progressive showing in the Texas primaries, SURJ is thrilled to be endorsing Attica Scott who is running in the Democratic primary for Congress in Kentucky. Attica is a deeply-aligned movement candidate. She’s been a leader in Kentucky on issues like legalizing marijuana, holding police accountable and protecting abortion rights for all. 

Electing progressive candidates of color is a part of our collective path forward. It’s our work to make sure white people join the work of building towards a more just future for us all.