National Post (National Edition)
AMERICANS PUT FAITH IN WRONG LEADERS
JURY SELECTION IN GEORGE FLOYD MURDER TRIAL STARTS MONDAY
Former police officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial over the killing of George Floyd is set to begin this month, with jury selection Monday. Almost 10 months have passed since video recordings of Floyd's death first captured the world's attention. As the United States prepares for possible riots and protests during what is sure to be an intense several weeks, the rest of the world is also bracing for impact. We all remember how America's 2020 racial reckoning shook our communities, too.
Whether the rest of the world likes it or not, our conversations about racism, especially anti-Black racism, are influenced by what's happening in the United States. With that in mind, it sure would be helpful if Americans stopped putting their faith in the wrong leaders to bring about change. The activists, athletes, and politicians currently in the spotlight are failing to provide real solutions that can give a hand up to the average Black working and middle class family. Americans can do better.
Black Lives Matter and its affiliates have benefited greatly from the past year's conversations about anti-Black racism. According to The Economist, worldwide BLM-related causes have accumulated over $10 billion in donations and pledges from corporations, foundations, and other sources. Recent reports indicate that the BLM Global Foundation, a central BLM fundraising arm, raised over $90 million last year.
It's unclear what has actually been achieved with all of this money. BLM's attempts at transparency just lead to more uncertainty. Numerous BLM chapters have publicly complained about how their own foundation's finances are being used.
Most importantly, BLM's signature policy proposal, “defund the police,” has been a catastrophe. Such efforts led to weakened law enforcement in U.S. cities, while the country saw the largest percentage increase in homicides in its history.
Among the multinational corporations that have elevated BLM to prominence is the National Basketball Association. In August 2020, it appeared that NBA players were on the cusp of using their influence to push for significant changes. Following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer, the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted their own games, inspiring similar decisions from other professional basketball, hockey, and baseball teams. This momentum ended abruptly just days later, after a meeting between LeBron James and former president Barack Obama, when players returned to the court in exchange for the NBA promising to turn its arenas into voter registration centres and create new social justice committees.
That's it. All that came from the historic NBA boycott was voter registration and committees.
The NBA could have followed the example of rappers Ice Cube and Killer Mike, who negotiated with politicians to make specific promises to invest in Black communities. The NBA also could have pleaded with billionaire team owners to create jobs in majority-Black neighbourhoods, mirroring South Carolina Senator Tim Scott's plan to transform America's inner-cities into “opportunity zones.” And the NBA players union could have advocated for private sector unionization for other Americans in need of stronger negotiating leverage with their employers.
The Democratic Party reaped the rewards of the NBA's push for voter registration. Joe Biden won the presidency. But his administration's expressed plans for Black communities are a far cry from the Platinum Plan for Black Americans that Republicans put forward after consulting with Ice Cube before the 2020 election. Thus far, the most concrete action taken by President Biden in the name of Black communities might be his role in the cancelling of Dr. Seuss. It's unlikely any one who hit the streets in protest last year was concerned about the author of The Cat in the Hat. Unfortunately, symbolic gestures are what's most easily achieved by the current collection of activists, athletes, and politicians at centre stage.
The Biden White House is championing a police reform bill named after George Floyd. The bill, which is pending in the House of Representatives, would ban police chokeholds and introduce additional changes, but has been accused of effectively defunding the police by introducing new requirements for police departments without providing new financial resources to meet those requirements. Partisanship will almost certainly stand in the way of the bill passing, since it would need Republican votes in the Senate. Last year, when Republicans pushed a police reform bill of their own, Senate Democrats refused to support the proposed Republican legislation.
Both parties are making national police reform impossible.
Americans are capable of much more than what BLM, the NBA, or President Biden have to offer. Over the course of his storied career, economist and Hoover Institution fellow, Thomas Sowell, has put forward a plethora of real solutions to support and empower Black communities, including education reform and the strengthening of Black families. Similar solutions have been advanced by Brown University's Glenn Loury, Columbia University's John McWhorter, and the American Enterprise Institute's Ian Rowe. Voices for Black Mothers United is a new activist movement supported by the Woodson Center to advocate against violence and promote positive policing. Churches and private sector unions continue to be vehicles for their members to have a greater voice in American democracy. And many athletes do help transform the lives of children and youth through a variety of initiatives that fall under corporate media's radar.
I could go on, but you get the point. Alternatives to the status quo are readily available.
In the critical weeks ahead, as we take stock of what has been achieved since George Floyd's death, and we wonder what comes next, the U.S. should reconsider which leaders they put their faith in. Those in the spotlight aren't delivering for Black working and middle class families. The rest of the world is watching.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE STATUS QUO ARE READILY AVAILABLE.