April 20, 2021, almost a year after George Floyd was murdered, Derek Chauvin was found guilty. It took over a year for the court system to do what it should do and try a murderer.
Even after a cellphone recording of Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd circulated across the globe, people were still in apprehension of the verdict. The fact that there was ever uncertainty in the verdict is saddening. The trial played on every major news platform practically 24-7. The world saw the defense attorney use racist dog whistles to defend Derek Chauvin. He labeled a group of bystanders, which included a 9 year old and a 17 year old, as threatening and said that George Floyd died of drug use, not the knee that was on his neck for over 9 minutes.
The conviction of Derek Chauvin is a step in the right direction, but so many others have not received justice. The only punishment that was given to the officers that killed Breonna Taylor, who was sleeping at the time, was for her neighbor’s wall damages. There is still so much work to be done in the future. In Columbus Ohio, as Derek Chauvin’s verdict came out, Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16 year old girl, was killed by police. It feels like the news can’t go a week without another black life lost to police brutality. In the face of all of this systemic violence, change is a far off and daunting idea. Last summer exposed what many people of color have known for a long time: the entire police system has targeted, harassed, and killed black people at alarming rates. It should not take weeks of international protests to accept facts and statistics.
WordsWorth’s Editorial Board can not make it more clear that we completely and wholeheartedly stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. Our beliefs are in accordance with that of the Quaker values that there is God’s light in everyone. George Floyd’s light was extinguished far too early in an act of violence that was seen by the world. We want to acknowledge that this is a small step forward and that there is still much more work to be done if our country’s court systems and policing institutions are to ever be considered just and equal.
