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George Floyd & The Chauvin Verdict
George FloydLate in the afternoon of April 20th, 2021, Derek Chauvin was ruled guilty on all three charges related to the murder of George Floyd. Second-degree unintentional murder. Third-degree murder. Second-degree manslaughter. Millions across the country had been waiting nervously. Many black and brown people spoke up on social media the night before and warned their white friends and acquaintances not to act surprised when “not guilty” was the end result. Some explained it would simply be too painful to see white people once again acting surprised about a reality they’d been living with all their lives. Fortunately, it went a different way.Yet, what were we really expecting a guilty verdict to bring us? Some spoke of a moment of relief, or a sense of resolution to at least one piece of this very public tragedy. (Chauvin won’t be sentenced for another eight weeks, and the trials for the other three officers involved won’t even begin until end of summer.) Lots of people across the nation clapped, cheered, let out cries of unexpected triumph, or chanted George Floyd’s name when they first heard. However, many also spoke of an almost immediate resurgence of unrest or confusion about how exactly to feel. Justified anger at the fact that this sort of outcome is so rare as to be a surprise rose up. Some even worried that Chauvin’s conviction might be used to distract from the fact that the root of the problem remains entirely unchanged, as if the conviction of one “bad cop” solved anything at all.