海角大神

Have we been here before?

The civil unrest seen across the United States since a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd may be rivaled only by the chaotic summers of the late 1960s, when racial tensions, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War fueled widespread protests and rioting.

Houston 鈥� and the Third Ward, the historically black neighborhood where Mr. Floyd grew up 鈥� experienced that late 鈥�60s unrest, including a violent encounter in 1967 on the campus of Texas Southern University (TSU), a historically black college in the Third Ward, that saw police arrest almost 500 students and shoot up a dormitory.

Race riots broke out in cities around the country in those months 鈥� a period now known as the 鈥渓ong, hot summer of 1967.鈥� In a report analyzing the cause of the unrest, the Kerner Commission concluded that white Americans were largely to blame for maintaining systemic inequality between black and white Americans.

President Lyndon Johnson didn鈥檛 act on those conclusions, and a year later protests again erupted across the country 鈥� again, including Houston 鈥� after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

鈥淏ecause before it was only one community, [authorities could] ignore it,鈥� says Ronald Goodwin, a history professor at Prairie View A&M University, of earlier protests by the black community. 鈥淣ow you can鈥檛 ignore it.鈥�

Houston, which hosted a memorial service for Mr. Floyd Monday, has seen daily protests demanding justice for his death. Yet the civil unrest of this moment is different, locals and experts say, in ways that represent not just social progress, but a broader disillusionment with American institutions that could be an even tougher problem to tackle than what the country faced 50 years ago.

鈥淲hile we should be focused on police brutality in black communities, what this has brought out is a broad discontent in society. And that鈥檚 something we need to be concerned about and take seriously,鈥� says Marcus Casey, an economist at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and the Brookings Institution.

Adding to the urgency of today鈥檚 response, over the past five years police have killed about 1,000 Americans every year. That number has not changed despite promises of reform after the massive riots and protests resulting from high-profile deaths of African Americans including Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, and Freddie Gray.

In the Third Ward, Brother Deloyd T. Parker Jr., who runs a local community center and knew Mr. Floyd, has been protesting police brutality for decades. But this time, he acknowledges, is different.

鈥淚鈥檓 very hurt about what happened to George,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 hurt every time. There鈥檚 a George every day.鈥�

鈥淲hat happened to George was the straw that broke the camel鈥檚 back. What that uncovered and unveiled is a lot of injustices that have taken place all over the country, and all over the world,鈥� he adds. 鈥淗e鈥檚 pretty much a symbol now.鈥�

鈥淓verybody is here鈥�

When 60,000 people demonstrated here last week, one thing stood out to many Houstonians in the crowd: the diversity of the people around them.

鈥淵ou see Asians, you see whites, you see Latinos, you see Indians, Native Americans. Everybody is here,鈥� said Ephesian Fields, a black woman, during the protest.

鈥淭hings may change,鈥� she added, but 鈥渁t the end of the day, all we need is hope. All we have is hope. And the protests show hope.鈥�

The need for the protests was bluntly apparent to many protesters.

鈥淎nybody with the skin color that ain鈥檛 white, we get treated [expletive],鈥� said Eduardo Reyes, sporting a Mexican flag bandana around his neck.

His girlfriend, Kazaree Barnett, was wearing an S.U.C. pullover, the name of the rap group Mr. Floyd belonged to. Through tears she said the objective was to march in peace.

鈥淚t could be my dad, it could my brother, it could be a loved one, or it could be me,鈥� she added. 鈥淎t the end of the day none of us are safe. We just want to be safe.鈥�

That diversity is perhaps not surprising for Houston, a majority-minority city. But the nationwide protests over Mr. Floyd鈥檚 killing have been diverse in another way: geography.

In Texas, major cities have seen protests, but so have small towns with small black populations. Demonstrators have gathered in downtown New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but also in those cities鈥� suburbs. Protesters have turned out in majority-white cities like Salt Lake City, Utah, and Des Moines, Iowa.

The cellphone video that captured Mr. Floyd鈥檚 last moments 鈥� Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes while he begged for breath 鈥� is visceral and horrifying, even compared to other videos of police killings. (Mr. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder; the three other officers who participated in detaining Mr. Floyd face charges of aiding and abetting his killing.)

And to be sure, racism, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement are the banner issues for protesters. But in this moment of heightened disillusionment there are a host of other issues driving people onto the streets.

The financial and psychological shock of the COVID-19 pandemic is certainly a factor,聽whether it be for Gen Zers entering the job market or Millennials still recovering from the Great Recession. (The pandemic has hit Houston鈥檚 large oil and gas industry especially hard.)聽

But more than half the country also disapproves of President Donald Trump鈥檚 performance. Half of Americans believe that Supreme Court justices don鈥檛 set aside personal or political views when they make rulings, and have 鈥渧ery little鈥� confidence in Congress. Even more Americans are increasingly concerned that issues like the threat of white nationalism聽and climate change aren鈥檛 getting enough attention.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a growing pessimism about the institutions in the United States, the elites,鈥� says Professor Casey. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 driving broader participation.鈥�

People of all races 鈥渇eel this growing inequality in society, the idea that institutions aren鈥檛 very responsive to the rank and file,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭hey see those things as linked to the police brutality.鈥�

The Tre

For decades, police brutality has rarely not been top of mind in the Third Ward.

In 1967, protests broke out in Houston after a child drowned in the Holmes Road dump, a landfill in a black community. As protests continued and tensions climbed, Houston police raided the TSU campus on the early morning of May 17, firing around 3,000 rounds into Lanier Dormitory and arresting 488 students. Only five students were eventually charged, and they were all exonerated.

While much of the late 鈥�60s unrest was racially diverse 鈥� the civil rights movement in particular 鈥� the riots of the 鈥渓ong, hot summer鈥� were characterized by events like that at TSU: unrest sparked by local grievances in black communities聽over issues like police brutality and poor living conditions.

This moment is different, and in many ways the Third Ward is different too. When Mr. Floyd was growing up there, Mr. Parker says, the neighborhood 鈥� known as 鈥渢he Tre鈥� 鈥� had just begun to change.

鈥淚t was blacker,鈥� he adds. 鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 see many people of European extraction walking their dogs down the street.鈥�

Mr. Floyd spent time at S.H.A.P.E. Community Center, which Mr. Parker co-founded in 1969. He attended Jack Yates High School 鈥� named after one of the area鈥檚 early Baptist pastors 鈥� and, having shot up to 6 feet 6 inches tall, stood out in football and basketball, helping the school get to the state championship in 1992.

After dropping out of college, he returned to the Third Ward and helped establish the city鈥檚 renowned hip-hop scene. After getting into trouble with the law and spending four years in prison, he returned to the Third Ward with a new dedication to improving his community. He would often stop by the S.H.A.P.E. Center and talk to kids.

鈥淗e鈥檇 always come with a positive attitude, a positive disposition,鈥� Mr. Parker recalls. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 content with who he was, he wanted to be better.鈥�

鈥淗e was on the move to doing that,鈥� he adds, 鈥渂ut he was robbed of doing that.鈥�

Diversity and solidarity?

Last week, as the march was finishing a few miles away, the finishing touches were being put on a mural tucked onto a side street in one of the Third Ward鈥檚 most neglected housing projects. It鈥檚 become a landmark for those who want to pay their respects to Mr. Floyd, and a beacon for people who live there.

鈥淗e woke the world up,鈥� said Leonard McGowen, a resident of the Cuney Homes projects and a close friend of Mr. Floyd.

Mr. Floyd left Houston for Minneapolis around 2014, seeking a fresh start. The Third Ward, meanwhile, had been rapidly gentrifying. With black residents moving to suburbs and whites and Latinos moving in, the neighborhood鈥檚 black population dropped from 79% in 2000 to 67% in 2015. The worry is that it could follow the same path as the Fourth Ward, a historic neighborhood created by freed slaves.

鈥淔ourth Ward is oldest black community in Houston. It鈥檚 not there no more. It鈥檚 nothing but town homes,鈥� says John 鈥淏unchy鈥� Crear, a former Black Panther Party member who has lived in the Third Ward for decades.

For some black Houstonians marching in protests, they feel just as threatened by gentrification as they do the police 鈥撀燼nd by the pandemic, which has disproportionately harmed African Americans. One thing that hasn鈥檛 changed since the 鈥�60s: the wealth gap between black families and white families. The average white household in 2016 had the same median wealth as 11.5 black households combined.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e pushing us blacks out so they can gentrify Third Ward and pretty much erase our history,鈥� Ms. Fields said during last week鈥檚 protest. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just one more way of them trying to enslave us and not let us have anything.鈥�

Not everyone in the Third Ward believes this change is wholly negative. Many admit that it is, to a degree, inevitable 鈥� the neighborhood used to be mostly Jewish, until after World War II 鈥� and community groups have been working to prevent 鈥渦nchecked鈥� gentrification in favor of something more equitable.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 stop people moving in, that鈥檚 a lost battle, but we want to make sure we鈥檙e as much in control of this community as we need to be,鈥� says Mr. Parker. 鈥淐hange is imminent, we know that. But let that change be positive change.鈥�

More integration in American society seems to have bred solidarity in the George Floyd protests, says Professor Casey. With more diversity in schools and neighborhoods, and with social media, African American worldviews are more broadly understood than in the 1960s.

鈥淭here鈥檚 more overlapping spheres. So something that affected a black man in Minnesota might matter to a white person in Arizona,鈥� he says. 鈥淎long with seeing the institutional issues, it feels much more personal across the country.鈥�

Looking at protests over Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death around the world, Mr. Parker thinks it鈥檚 even bigger than that.

鈥淭his is a global movement,鈥� he says.

And how would Mr. Floyd feel if he could see this now?

鈥淗e鈥檇 be excited that black people and people of conscience, and people who love freedom are standing up,鈥� says Mr. Parker. 鈥淚 can see him smiling right now.鈥�