Time will tell, and nothing is guaranteed, but the police killing of George Floyd could be, finally, a turning point in the struggle to radically change the criminal justice system and policing across the country. The response to this ghastly murder is of such a magnitude that it is realistic to think that there won’t be a return to the status quo. Trump and his Republican cronies in Washington and elsewhere will surely attempt to block such changes, but we will usher them out of Washington on the first Tuesday in November.
Here is a recent article by President Obama.
Biden has to step outside and provide a contrast in style and substance to Trump, as do other leaders of the Democratic Party and democratic coalition. Actually, everybody, including each of us in whatever way we can, has to find our voice. Silence isn’t an option; speaking out at this tense and dangerous moment is a necessity.
The past week — and it’s too bad we as a country have to learn this way — provided more than enough reasons for a overhaul of our criminal justice system. A crucial element of any such overhaul is democratic and community control with teeth over police departments and policing.
The failure of the county district attorney to arraign and bring murder charges against the 4 policemen responsible for the death of George Floyd yesterday is outrageous. How is it possible? The evidence is in plain sight. Incontrovertible. On a video, more than one, in fact.
A good part of the answer lies in seeing the world as it is, in seeing justice (injustice) as it is practiced, in seeing the systemic racism that is materially embedded in the institutional life of our society, including and especially, in the criminal justice system. Or to put it differently, it is a racialized system of exploitation and oppression that make the securing of justice in the case of George Floyd so difficult, despite the incontrovertible evidence at hand.
Most of us don’t command a big audience, but each of us, nevertheless, can find ways to speak out against racism. And an immediate place to begin is to demand that murder charges be brought against the 4 policemen that cruelly took the life of George Floyd. What we can’t do is bring back his life. And that sobering reality will temper the joy of any victory that might be won.
Black Lives Matter
