With trial over, what next for racial justice?
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There have been other moments of police violence against Black men captured on video over the past few years.
As part of a new moment in human history when nearly everyone is equipped with video-recording phones, witnesses 鈥� and sometimes even the mandated clip-on cameras of police officers themselves 鈥� have captured the violent deaths of men such as Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Rayshard Brooks.听听听听
鈥淪ay their names鈥� became a rallying cry, and such videos, especially, helped launch Black Lives Matter, organized and led by a younger generation of Black Americans, who demanded the nation address its history of racial injustice with mass protests not seen since the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Why We Wrote This
For much of the country, it has felt like racism itself was on trial in Minneapolis. What does the verdict say about where America goes from here?
The name George Floyd, however, resonated globally, and from the start there appeared to be something different about the impact of the 9 1/2 minutes of footage that captured his murder at the corner of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis.
鈥淛ust a human, just a man, lying on the pavement being pressed upon, desperately crying out,鈥� said prosecution team member Steve Schleicher in his final arguments Monday. 鈥淎 grown man, crying out for his mother. A human being.鈥�
On Tuesday, a jury issued a verdict all too rare in American history, convicting former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on all counts, including murder.
But as the Monitor reported Tuesday, despite the honking car horns and shouts of solidarity outside the Hennepin County Courthouse, the mood could not be considered happy.
鈥淭he exhaustion is real, the constant emotional turmoil we experience is real,鈥� says JaNa茅 Bates, communications director of Isaiah, a St. Paul-based network of faith organizations that promotes racial justice in Minnesota. 鈥淎nd the idea that the only off-ramp for that is a conviction 鈥� it鈥檚 incredibly frustrating, because we know the problems go far beyond one cop.鈥�
A year ago the shocking footage of Mr. Floyd鈥檚 murder sent a jolt through white America. With millions at home and more attuned, his death sparked a number of unprecedented if modest initial responses.听
The controversies over athletes taking a knee began to wane, the NFL admitted it was wrong to oppose players like Colin Kaepernick, and athletes in leagues overseas began to say Mr. Floyd鈥檚 name and take a knee.听听
Brands began to acknowledge and remove the racist stereotypes implicit in their packaging, more organizations began to remove memorials to Confederate leaders, and companies like Twitter and Square began to make Juneteenth a paid holiday. Merriam-Webster agreed to include a definition of systemic oppression in its entry on 鈥渞acism,鈥� and news organizations, including 海角大神, began to capitalize Black 鈥� an acknowledgment of the sui generis experiences of Black Americans throughout the nation鈥檚 history.
Even President Donald Trump, who long emphasized law and order, responded by signing an executive order last June, calling for police departments to train officers on de-escalation techniques and use of force standards 鈥� which 鈥渨ill be as high and as strong as there is on earth,鈥� .
Yet many Black Americans temper such glimmers of hope after Tuesday鈥檚 verdict with a more sober assessment, noting that centuries of systematic oppression will not just easily disappear.听
鈥淲e can鈥檛 reconcile the tension that exists between police and Black communities unless we speak truth about the extent of that violence 鈥� deadly violence directed at Black communities, and what that looks like in historical perspective,鈥� says Hasan Kwame Jeffries, professor of history at Ohio State University. 鈥淭his verdict defies history because historically, it鈥檚 rare that police get indicted and it鈥檚 even rarer that they get convicted.鈥�
Law enforcement officers kill an average of . About 1% of those officers face charges afterward. Since 2005, just 听have been convicted of murder, according to Philip Stinson, a Bowling Green State University professor.
The massive protest movement and the shocking video indeed helped make a difference after Mr. Floyd鈥檚 murder, Professor Jeffries says. 鈥淏ut one of the things that was a big difference, and that we need to take away from this, is we saw what happens when prosecutors actually want to prosecute police.鈥�
Maryland revokes police bill of rights
Police officers and prosecutors work closely together in the justice system 鈥� many have referred to it as an intimate fraternity between those within the constant stress of some of the most high-stakes jobs, and most prosecutors hesitate to aggressively go after their own, experts say. Police officers, too, are granted additional protections, like qualified immunity and other legal shields from prosecution.听
In 1974, Maryland was the first of some 20 states, including Minnesota, to enact a bill of rights for law enforcement officials, which added extra protections for police officers accused of misconduct, including limits on the length of time in which citizens could allege complaints, limits on the discipline handed down to officers who violate procedures, and a requirement that only other police officers could investigate those accused.
But this month Maryland became the first to repeal these special protections, its legislature overriding the veto of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
It was indeed the murder of Mr. Floyd that propelled these changes, says Lawrence Grandpre, director of research for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, a grassroots organization in Baltimore. People went from 鈥渁wareness to truly desiring or demanding some sort of change.鈥澨�
But the repeal 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 fit the neat mythology of, we rose up, we protested, and now we have achieved victory,鈥� Mr. Grandpre says. 鈥淲hat happened in Maryland is a decadelong organizing effort that鈥檚 culminated in meaningful, but not revolutionary progress.鈥�
Lee-Ann Stephens, an educator in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, also expresses an ambivalent mixture of relief and hope, tempered with a certain amount of realism.听
鈥淚 cried. I cried. I felt like I鈥檝e been holding my breath for almost a year,鈥� Ms. Stephens says. 鈥淚 cried from relief, recognizing this is a milestone, but it鈥檚 not the finish line, and there鈥檚 still so much more work to be done. But this is a great start to the work that needs to continue.鈥�
When Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 trial began March 29, polls suggested that fewer white Americans, not more, expressed support for the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement.听
About 43% of white respondents said they supported the movement last year after images of Mr. Floyd shocked the nation. But a year later, only 37% expressed support 鈥� the same number measured before Mr. Floyd died under Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 knee, the polling company Civiqs听.
More significantly, perhaps, white opposition to Black Lives Matter significantly increased over the same time, jumping from 35% last year to 49% at the start of Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 trial.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has the highest-rated show in cable news, suggested on Tuesday that Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 trial was hardly fair, and that the 鈥渦nanimous and unequivocal verdict鈥� was really a result of fear.听
鈥淓veryone understood perfectly well the consequences of an acquittal in this case. After nearly a year of burning and looting ... by BLM, that was never in doubt,鈥� Mr. Carlson said during , in which he cut off an interview with a former sheriff鈥檚 deputy who said the verdict was just and characterized Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 actions as 鈥渟avagery.鈥�
But there have been signs of change in the concrete steps being taken by corporations, the media, and a number of state and local governments 鈥� like and reinvesting in community resources, many activists say.
鈥淭he practice of how law enforcement deals with folks of color, those are the things that are on trial more,鈥� says Nathan Hampton, a principal in the Minneapolis public school system. 鈥淚 think what happened with Mr. Floyd and his death kick-started a lot of changes, and I hope these changes continue to work and serve people in the community.鈥�
In Houston鈥檚 Third Ward
The day after Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 conviction, in Mr. Floyd鈥檚 childhood neighborhood in Houston鈥檚 Third Ward, residents gather by the handful to pay their respects at a mural of Mr. Floyd painted on Scott Food Store鈥檚 back wall. A Black Lives Matter flag hangs to its left. Flowers adorn the cracked concrete underneath it. Old-school soul music plays from speakers across the street.听
Dennis Roundtree, senior pastor at Acts Tabernacle Holiness Temple, slowly walks up to the mural of Mr. Floyd鈥檚 face. He stares at the painting, as if to lock eyes. He and Mr. Floyd both went to nearby Yates High School. They didn鈥檛 know each other back then, but they grew up only a few classes apart.听
Dr. Roundtree thinks Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death didn鈥檛 just affect his community in the Third Ward. It changed the nation forever going forward.听
鈥淚 think George Floyd will go down in history like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and it goes on,鈥� Dr. Roundtree says.
Shirley Gilliam, an educator at the Houston Independent School District, and Candra Handy, who also works at HISD, say it鈥檚 their first time seeing the memorial. With each step, they say they could feel their emotions rising up.
She thinks Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 conviction on all three counts signifies that their community鈥檚 pleas have been heard.听听
鈥淚t has brought such awareness to Black life. When you take one of our own ...鈥� Ms. Gilliam pauses and collects herself.听
As an educator and mother, she understands the tragedy of Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death ripples beyond Mr. Floyd鈥檚 family and, ultimately, the nation鈥檚 collective grief. Ms. Gilliam says she can鈥檛 help but feel compassion for Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 family. 鈥淭here are two families that have been destroyed by this 鈥� and over what? Over not being human? Over ...鈥� Her voice trails off again.听
Now, she thinks Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 conviction will cause officers to think twice and act with compassion for others in the future.
鈥淣ow, they鈥檙e going to care,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to care and they鈥檙e going to think about it.鈥�听
鈥淭he whole country listening鈥�
Other activists point to the need to continue the unprecedented momentum of the past year.
鈥淲e got the whole country listening to us right now,鈥� says Brian Fullman,听lead organizer of Barbershops and Black Congregation Cooperative, a coalition of听beauticians, barbers, and faith leaders in Minnesota. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 the time to slow down our work. This is the time to expand.鈥澨�
鈥淚 have not organized my community around the Chauvin trial, but around systemic oppression听and abuse and the culture of policing across the country,鈥� Mr. Fullman says. 鈥淲e know those things will continue, and so if you don鈥檛 line up and get involved, the protesting is for nothing. You have to get to the inside and have a plan.鈥�
State Rep. John Thompson, a Democrat whose district includes part of St. Paul, echoed those sentiments, saying the verdict was an important step rather than a final destination in the march for racial equality.
鈥淭his is definitely a victory, but there鈥檚 still a lot of work to do,鈥� says Mr. Thompson, who became involved in politics after a police officer fatally shot his friend Philando Castile in a St. Paul suburb five years ago. He, too, has introduced a bill that would end special protections for police officers charged with civil violations or violent crimes.
鈥淭his fight has been going on since before I was born, back to the days of Martin Luther King Jr., and before him,鈥� Mr. Thompson says. 鈥淪o as long as I got breath in my body, I鈥檓 going to fight.鈥�
