Not Enough

We should all breathe a sigh of relief at the guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial.  It seems, at last, there is some measure of accountability for the way that police in America conduct themselves when they interact with minority communities.  But let us hope that no one believes the fight is over.  Chauvin was one man, and even as his guilty verdict was handed down, yet another Black teenager was shot by police.   On the one hand, the Chauvin verdict makes it clear that there are limits to what American society is willing to allow its police to do.  It is, indeed, an indication that America may be ready to truly come to understand that the lives of all its citizens should matter, not only a privileged few.  But deterring police crimes against Black and brown Americans will be more complicated than one verdict. 

       The root causes of this kind of conflict are not easily addressed.  The psychology behind leaving your knee on the neck of a man for over 9 minutes is complicated.  It takes a lot for a human being to get to that point, and even more to reach people that far gone.  There will have to be a deeper reckoning; there will have to be genuine soul searching.  Laws are a beginning, something to build on, but the ultimate answer lies in changing attitudes and beliefs.  That will be harder, but it must be done.  In the long run, the only way to prevent crimes like the murder of George Floyd will be addressing the racist belief systems inherent in each American.  As the movement goes forward the critical question will not be one of law enforcement, but whether Americans can come together around at last ending the deep-seated racism which is a stain on the American identity. 

What happens next is absolutely crucial.  Will the movement gain momentum?  Will America see that trying and convicting one man when so many have died is not enough?  Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer, pointed out on Minnesota Public Radio. “…this moment didn’t happen because the system worked…”  If anything, the system initially acted against justice for George Floyd.  Had it not been for the cellphone footage of a teenage girl, the murder of George Floyd may have been just another statistic.  This is a moment of relief, but I do not know that it should be a moment of exaltation, not yet.