What we can do to remember George Floyd
Wednesday marks two years since the brutal murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd lay handcuffed on the ground, crying out “I can’t breathe” over 20 times.
Floyd’s murder, captured on video, sparked nationwide protests – believed to have been the largest in American history – by an estimated 15 million to 26 million people calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality as they chanted “Black Lives Matter”
But unfortunately, too many Americans believe Black lives don’t matter.
We saw this most recently with the fatal shooting on May 14 of 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in what authorities say was a hate crime by a white racist gunman. His reported writings endorsed the “great replacement theory,” which falsely asserts that either Democrats or Jews (or both) have conspired to flood the nation with immigrants of color to replace America’s white majority.
The FBI reports that in 2020, more than 8,000 hate crimes were committed against more than 11,000 individuals. About 62% of the hate crimes were directed against victims because of their race, ethnicity or ancestry – rising from 3,963 in 2019 to 5,227 in 2020.
False claim on ‘critical race theory’
Yet growing numbers of Americans – including many Republican state and local officials – want to deny public school students a true picture of past and present racism, falsely labeling this “critical race theory” and incorrectly claiming this will teach white young people to hate themselves and teach all students to hate America. Many of these same officials want to restrict discussion of other types of prejudice and sexuality in schools.
This censorship of what children are taught is harmful. Children need to learn about the harm caused by all types of prejudice so they can work to eliminate or at least reduce it.
Hopes for police reform in the wake of Floyd’s murder have been dashed by the opposition of Senate Republicans. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus – including Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California (now vice president), and Reps. Karen Bass of California and James Clyburn of South Carolina – introduced the Justice in Policing Act just weeks after Floyd’s murder. It was passed by the Democratic-controlled House but died in the Senate, which was then under Republican control.
The bill seeks to end racial and religious profiling by police, and would ban police from using chokeholds and noknock search warrants, require police to wear body cameras, limit police use of military equipment and make it easier to prosecute police for misconduct. The House passed the bill again in March 2021.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has also introduced a watered-down police reform bill. Negotiations have failed to reach a compromise between his bill and the bill passed by the House.
Despite what many Republicans claim, the Democratic reforms do not include defunding the police. Many Democratic elected officials have called for increased funding for police. President Joe Biden earlier this month praised state and local governments for agreeing to use at least $10 billion in federal stimulus money to increase police department funding.
While there have been hopeful developments since the killing of George Floyd – including the murder conviction of fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and the conviction of three officers at the murder scene for violating Floyd’s civil rights and failing to intervene – much more needs to be done in addition to enacting the long-stalled police reform measure passed by the House.
Where is Republican support for preventing domestic terrorism?
The House took an important step by passing a bill last Wednesday to strengthen the ability of the federal government to prevent domestic terrorism and reduce the threat of violence by white supremacists. But only one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, voted for the measure. Republican opposition makes Senate passage of the bill as it now stands a long shot.
In addition, the National Urban League, the National Action Network, the Anti-defamation League, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Asian Americans Advancing Justice called on President Biden following the Buffalo mass shooting to convene a summit to develop a plan to combat hate crimes, white supremacy and violent extremism. That would be a good step as well.
Community-based organizations, working with the church or religious communities, must also provide a bridge into local neighborhoods working with the law enforcement officials to improve communications and to ensure the public safety and well-being of every citizen.
George Floyd, the 10 Black people killed in Buffalo, and other victims who have lost their lives to unjustified police violence and hate crimes ought to be alive today. We should not forget them and in their memory, our elected officials in both parties should work together on a bipartisan basis to make needed police reforms, and to reduce hate crimes and other forms of domestic terrorism and gun violence.
Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) is a member of USA TODAY’S Board of Contributors, an ABC News contributor, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the King Endowed Chair in Public Policy at Howard University. She previously served as interim chair of the Democratic National Committee and of the DNC’S Voting Rights Institute, and managed Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000.
George Floyd, the 10 Black people killed in Buffalo, and other victims who have lost their lives to unjustified police violence and hate crimes ought to be alive today. We should not forget them and in their memory, our elected officials in both parties should work together on a bipartisan basis to make needed police reforms, and to reduce hate crimes and other forms of domestic terrorism and gun violence.