Since my last Blog, 12 sensible American jurors have had the decency and sense of justice to hold Derek Chauvin accountable on 3 counts, for the brutal murder of Brother George Floyd.
I saw a letter in the newspaper that mirrored my feelings. It said this:
As a Black woman who lives in Minneapolis, I am relieved by the verdict read out yesterday…We knew that Derek Chauvin was guilty—Floyd’s murder was caught on film for the world to see. Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd cried out “I can’t breathe,” but even this was no guarantee that Chauvin would be held accountable. The American justice system is built on foundations of white supremacy and the protections the system offers cops who commit acts of violence against Black and brown people are extraordinary. Chauvin’s own history in the Minneapolis Police Department proves that, as he had 18 complaints filed against him before he murdered George Floyd…
It took extraordinary pressure from protesters in Minneapolis and across the country for nearly a year to earn even this small victory, and we need to recognize this as a victory for those activists—not a victory for the system. The system is still broken and we need to keep fighting to fix it.
Please note that, in the meantime, black and brown communities must continue to teach our young people, especially our young men, about the dangers of encounters with the police – who, I say again, we pay to “serve and protect” us. Generally speaking across the US, annual killings at the hands of police remain at 1,100 in spite of tepid efforts at reform in some cities.
Barack Obama has said that we have a “playbook” for police reforms – we just haven’t followed it. Rev. Al Sharpton has said that over the last 400 years, a racist system has had a “knee on the neck” of the black community. “It’s time for us to stand up in George’s name and say, “Get your knee off our necks!”
Many Americans do not want to hear about “defunding the police” – but the fact is that in most black and brown communities, police do not do their jobs – serving and protecting the residents. Thank you, to all those conscientious citizens that take out their cameras and start recording when they believe that police persons are not doing their jobs faithfully. As one critic put it “The most urgent film-making anyone is doing in this country right now is by black people with camera phones”
It is clear that:
- We need those cameras to keep rolling – and not just in the hands of black citizens
- We need leaders of conscience to start following the “Playbook” for justice and wise police reform
- We need more of our hard-earned dollars in the form of taxes to pay for Mental Health facilities and professionals to accompany or replace police when there are obvious mental health issues to be addressed
- We need police persons to be investigated carefully when complaints are filed for misconduct and we need for “bad cops” to be dismissed – and never rehired by Sheriff’s offices or any other policing entity in the country when it is determined that they have been guilty of using excessive force. Bad cops are a disaster for good cops!
All of us need to be joined in this battle until it is won!