Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and President Obama have both used the word "thug" this week to describe some protestors on the streets of Baltimore. 

It's an ugly word that reinforces a culture and a language that doesn’t value Black life — that doesn’t see Black people as human. It’s easier to kill someone when you don’t see them as a person, but rather deem them "a thug.”

Moreover, many critics have rightly observed that "thug" has become the societally-acceptable way of saying the n-word, like Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks (pictured above).

Such language has no place at the highest levels of American politics - coming out of the mouths of our President and the Mayor of one of our largest cities. And that's why - after a massive public uproar - Mayor Rawlings-Blake has already started to walk back on her use of the word. She issued two tweets morning conveying regret. But now she and President Obama need to take the word off the table for good.

Sign this petition and demand that President Obama and Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake apologize for smearing the #BaltimoreUprisers as "thugs." And demand they commit to never using the word again.

Do we believe that President Obama and Mayor Rawlings-Blake don't care about their Black constituents? Not for a second. But when they repeat "thug," they give media talking heads and other politicians permission to use the word. And this includes those who care about broken windows more than they care about broken Black spines.

These are the same individuals who only pay attention to Black communities devastated by years of economic and policing injustice when they can exploit the situation to push their own agenda. They'll cherry-pick their use of "thug," using it against Black communities, but never to describe violent police officers. 

When President Obama and Baltimore's Mayor use the word, they embolden those who don't have the best interests of Black people at heart. Add your name right away.