I hope I am wrong
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
As a social scientist, I look at data, or in other words I look at history, and ask; are there lessons in that data that help us understand today and make predictions about the future? History tells us to be prepared to be disappointed in the Derek Chauvin verdict. I hope I am wrong.
This last year has been a difficult year in America as we approach the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. The jury in that trial will be given the difficult task of judging whether former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is guilty of second-degree and or third-degree murder and other lesser charges. I cannot help but think of the case in Los Angeles where a jury found the police officers innocent in the beating, also captured on video, of Rodney King. After the King verdict, Los Angeles erupted in a paroxysm of looting and random violence. I hope I am wrong, but if the jury in Minneapolis finds Chauvin innocent of the more serious charges of murder, a violent reaction in Minneapolis and in other communities is possible, unless communities around the country begin preparing now.
The decision in the Chauvin case has garnered even more attention because of the police murder of Daunte Wright last week in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. It looks like this latest shooting was a fatal accident, but no matter the intention or circumstances, another Black man is dead at the hands of police who are using tactics on our community that seemed to be reserved for Black men. How much can one metropolitan area go through before it explodes? How much can Black communities across the country take before they explode?
The frustration that is taking place in America was intensified this week with the release of a video showing Lt. Caron Nazario, in uniform, being pepper-sprayed by a Windsor, Virginia, police officer. In that case the police officer was fired, and the Gov. Ralph Northam has called for an investigation. When Black citizens witness a Black officer of the U.S. Army, in uniform, being abused by police it confirms that no Black man is safe anywhere or at any time.
Currently, 20 percent of all police have military experience compared to 6 percent in the general population. A recent study published in the Journal of Public Health reports that police with military experience are
2.9 times more likely to be involved in a police-related shooting. The Black community wants police officers who view Blacks as citizens of this country not enemy combatants in Falluja, Mosul or Kabul.
The resignation and arrest the officer involved in the Daunte Wright shooting and the firing of the officer in the Lt. Caron Nazario traffic stop will likely not be enough to calm tensions, particularly with the Chauvin verdict about to happen. America is on edge. History suggests that a not-guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial could result in widespread unrest across the country. I hope I am wrong.
Black Americans may not have as much income, wealth, or political power as white Americans, but one thing we continue to hope for is equality when it comes to justice. Police shootings of Black Americans is far too common to fit the definition of randomness; this is systematic and requires a systematic solution.
“Defunding the Police” is a slogan, not a policy. The policies that must be changed are addressed in the George Floyd Policing Act, HR 7120. The Act lowers the criminal intent standard, from willful to knowing or reckless. Too often police have been excused for crimes against Black men and women on the grounds that their actions were not “willful.”
The Act limits “qualified immunity.” Qualified immunity gives police and correctional officers protection against civil suits when they have acted criminally. Police and correction officers currently know that they are personally protected against actions brought by family members of citizens illegally killed. This protection impacts their interaction with Black men. Police officers who act violently are legally bullet proof.
The Act gives the U.S. Department of Justice the power to act against local police departments who consistently behave in ways contrary to the interests of citizens. The power of the DOJ to enforce behavior by local police departments gives the Black community an added layer of protection from abusive police behavior. A part of this oversight includes maintaining a national database of charges and complaints brought against police officers so that rouge cops fired in one jurisdiction do not just move to another jurisdiction. In the murder of 12year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, the offending officer had been deemed “unfit and emotionally unstable” by his previous employer but was able to get a job in Cleveland PD. This Act would make such moves by criminal and unfit cops difficult, if not impossible.
This Act should be passed by large majorities in both houses of Congress. Action must also be taken at the local level. Local elected leaders, business leaders, and community leaders need to engage with black citizens across the country. I would advise elected officials in cities and states across the country to get out of their offices and go to the streets, to the schools, to the churches, and to the businesses where Black citizens live and work. Black citizens need to hear and see elected officials, and more importantly, elected officials need to see and hear Black citizens.
Justice may or may not prevail in the Chauvin murder trial. History suggests it will not, but I am hopeful that it will. Many Americans have literally seen this movie before. I hope this time the ending is different.