A little less than a year ago, Minneapolis police officers murdered George Floyd.
Today’s verdict, in which Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts, officially recognizes that reality and brings some measure of accountability for this killing.
However, this verdict alone does not rectify the deep, systemic issues that led to George Floyd’s death, or those of the countless others that have come before and after. This verdict alone does not change a racist and prejudiced police system that has brutalized Black people in America for hundreds of years. This verdict alone does not heal the entrenched racial injustice that is woven into the very fabric of American society. And, of course, this verdict cannot bring George Floyd back.
We hope that what this verdict can do is bring a small bit of peace to George Floyd’s family, and serve as a reminder to the rest of us of the tremendous work still to be done.