Supporting Women of Color means supporting Prop 16

Christopher Punongbayan is the Executive Director of California ChangeLawyers, a public foundation building a better justice system for all Californians.

The killing of Breonna Taylor has been a wake-up call to many Americans. Her life was cut short by local law enforcement, and two of three officers involved in her death went uncharged.

These events must be viewed in view of the larger system of “have” and “have nots” in America. Who gets to have justice, and who does not? Who gets to live, and who does not? Who gets to have opportunity, and who does not?

Black, indigenous, and other women of color know this story all too well. They are on the receiving end of racial discrimination. They are on the receiving end of gender discrimination. What’s more, they experience other unique disparities because of the ways in which their race and gender intersect together.

Look at the loss of employment during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the Economic Policy Institute show that the unemployment of black workers is greater than that of white workers. Digging even deeper, the data show that the unemployment rates of black women is greater than that of black men.

In the legal industry where I come from, women of color are disproportionately underrepresented in…