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Thousands of protestors of all races have been marching the streets of Indianapolis for more than a week. They all agree on one thing: it’s time for a change in America.

Protestors want police reform. They want fairness in the judicial system.

The problem, according to critics of the movement, is that ‘change,’ ‘reform,’ and ‘fairness’ are broad and non-specific concepts. They’re feel-good terms that sound great in theory, but lack the explicitness required to bring about legitimate and measurable progress for minority communities.

It’s a challenge that Reverend Charles Harrison of Indy Ten points Coalition knows well.

“I’m not for sure that there is uniformity within the black community as to what people would like to see changed, ” Harrison told WIBC’s Jason Hammer and Rob Kendall. “With police reform, one of the desires is that we find a way to address officers who should either not be on the force or have had other disciplinary action taken against them but remain on the force.”

He continued: “I think the other thing that people want to see is that when there are questionable police action shootings – particularly of unarmed African-American males and females – the judicial system does not seem to be fair.”

Harrison affirmed the anger of the black community, but he says it’s a mistake to pursue extreme measures like defending police departments.

“Certainly I don’t think that would be acceptable – even in the black community,” he said.

Rev. Harrison told Hammer and Rob that he’s working with youth in his community to hear their concerns and guide their approach to addressing them in a peaceful manner.

“I had a discussion with young people as to why there is so much anger around this issue and what they would like to see happen,” Harrison said. “[But] we also talked about what happened last Friday and Saturday night that was different from what my generation did in the 1960s and we were marching for the end of segregation, integrating society, and the Civil Rights Act.”

Rev. Harrison has dedicated a significant portion of his adult life to bringing an end to black-on-black crime. He told Hammer and Rob that progress in the area of police and judicial reform shouldn’t overshadow the need for change within the black community.

“One of the challenges we face is that when you have this movement called Black Lives Matter addressing the issue of police brutality, we are ignoring the problem we have with black-on-black violence,” he said.

Harrison said the young people he spoke with on Wednesday night recognize that challenge.

“They understand that that is an issue that needs to get the same level of attention and outrage that we have towards what we perceive as racism when it comes to law enforcement,” Harrison said.

Rev. Harrison said he doesn’t anticipate a repeat of the violence in Indianapolis that occurred last weekend.

“We’re hoping that the young people keep their word to not have any more [riots], but also that they will be mindful to ensure that they don’t allow agitators and opportunists to mix in with the peaceful protests and create havoc when it gets dark. That would be tragic, and it would be condemned.”

Click the link below to hear Jason Hammer and Rob Kendall’s full interview with Rev. Charles Harrison of the Indy Ten Points Coalition.

https://omny.fm/shows/hammer-and-nigel-show/rev-charles-harrison-talks-protests

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