A Step Towards Justice
Where Do We Go Post-Chauvin Trial
Yesterday was an emotional day. It was a day that will be remembered and talked about for a long time. It was the day that a jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the murder of George Floyd.
Like many, I was a nervous wreck awaiting the verdict. Like many, I could not watch the trial. Hearing portions of the trial, like the testimony of Charles McMillan, made me weep. Other portions I heard made me angry. Through it all, overshadowing all of the other emotions, I felt impending gloom and despair.
When I was a senior in high school, Rodney King was bludgeoned by police. That was the first time I recalled vicious acts by police; the type of acts that I had heard mentioned by friends and read about, the type of acts that almost certainly would not happen in my neighborhood or to someone who looked like me; caught on video. Before the days of cell phones, this was a handheld camera that recorded the beating. At the time, I thought, well, this time the police will be found guilty, there is a video.
Earlier that year, while driving on a highway in Miami where my family lived, as a teenager, driving much too fast, I passed a police car on the median separating the cars travelling in different directions. In my rearview mirror, I could see the car was maneuvering to follow me. I quickly changed lanes, crossing several lanes of traffic to exit at the off ramp that was quickly approaching. I was a teenager, who had never been caught speeding, never been pulled over, and I panicked. As I was making the turn at the end of the off ramp, I could see that the policeman was not fooled by my hasty attempt to elude him. As I came to a stop after turning, suddenly 4 or 5 police cars surrounded me on a residential street in a suburb of Miami. I think about that moment frequently because, while I was petrified of getting a ticket and explaining that to my parents, unlike many of my friends, I was white. I do not remember fearing for my life. I do not remember fearing making eye contact with one of the officers. I do not remember being concerned that I might make a quick movement. I was not concerned that I HAD to say sir each time I spoke to one of the officers. It never crossed my mind that I might die.
After the relief of hearing the verdict, I immediately thought how crazy our system must be that the verdict was in question. If you had asked me prior, I would have hypothesized that Chauvin would be found not guilty. That is what experience has taught me.
Soon after the verdict, the initial statement that was released on May 25, 2020, regarding the murder of George Floyd was posted many places on social media. Knowing what we know now, the statement regarding the Minneapolis police involvement is preposterous. What if 17-year-old Darnella Frazier had not had the wherewithal to record and post this incident? Would the verdict have been the same?
Following the murder of George Floyd, the city of Minneapolis, the country, and the world saw protest and unrest at a level not reached before regarding racism. Not only were there more people, but the demographics were different. Like always, some concentrated on the property damage, the looting, the violence. Despite almost all statistical evidence saying otherwise, there were the people who want to dictate and administer how people should protest, how they should deal with their anguish and anger. Well, what if there had not been that level of unrest? What if the protest was not so diverse racially? Would the verdict have been the same?
As a basketball coach and someone who believes mightily in the lessons and perspective that sport can provide, I have been heartened, over the last year in particular, at how athletes have used their platform to bring attention to social justice causes. The WNBA, the US Women’s National Soccer team, the NBA, all have been powerful in their words and their actions. Others have felt differently. Well, what if athletes had just shut up and dribbled? Would the verdict have been the same?
What is in my mind most, the day after the verdict, having been exposed to so much since George Floyd was murdered nearly a year ago, is that the criminal justice system does not work in our country. There are certainly some who feel it works fine, and for them, maybe it does. However, it is obvious that it does not work for all, particularly the people of color in our country. I know some police officers, my best man is a policeman, and I get the uncertainty and fear associated with terms like defund and abolish. However, having listened to podcasts, having had conversations with people who are not white like me, having read articles and books, I do not see that the same regurgitated reforms can work. Read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, it is damning. I believe we need to look at all ideas critically and develop a new system, not just policing but the entire legal and carceral system. While there is accountability in this case for Derek Chauvin, had it not been for a confluence of extraordinary circumstances, the verdict would likely have been different. In my mind, there is not justice. Most importantly, this verdict is not a substitute for fixing our system, it is not a substitute for substantive policy change.
I hope that yesterday was not just the exception that proves the reality. I hope that yesterday was not just a giant spotlight shining on how bad our justice system is, and if not for an amazing confluence of circumstances, Derek Chauvin would have been found not guilty. I hope that we realize that it is only through continued struggle, through continued improvement, through continued engagement, that we have a true Democracy. Like Heather McGhee says so beautifully and succinctly in her book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, we cannot continue to have a country with such disparate realities for people of different races.
