Tears of joy after jury delivers guilty verdicts
The whole world watched this landmark trial and collectively held our breaths, refusing to exhale until the verdicts were read. We had seen so many of these cases, even here in Canada, end the same way.
After the verdict is read, we usually see handshakes, hugs and back slaps among the accused police officer and their supporters. The dead person’s families and supporters normally look crushed, hugging each other tightly, crying in disbelief.
We have come to expect nothing but a miscarriage of justice in these types of cases. We hoped with all of our hearts that something would be different this time, but we could not afford to hope too much because we have been disappointed so many times before. White police officers are never held accountable for their killings; justice is never served.
But this time it was different.
George Floyd’s killer (who shall remain nameless here) was found guilty of all three charges brought against him for the heinous act of wilfully ending a Black man’s life.
The trial judge read the verdict:
Count 1, second-degree murder — guilty.
My eyes welled up with tears.
Count 2, third-degree murder — guilty.
The tears began rolling down my cheeks.
Count 3, manslaughter — guilty.
I began to cry uncontrollable tears of joy. I pumped my fists in the air and shouted “BLACK LIVES MATTER” over and over until I was breathless.
It was not just George Floyd’s killer who was on trial. Police culture was on trial. The United States of America was on trial. The justice system was on trial and the legal profession was on trial.
Celebrating this verdict as a first-time occurrence is incredibly sad. Why can we get people on the moon but we cannot rid society of antiblack racism? What did it take to convict a murderer?
This is not cause for celebration. It is a wakeup call and a call to action to hold police officers who are violent accountable for their behaviours.
The shameless public execution of George Floyd is a good indication of how antiblack racism plays out in our society. The killer kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for almost nine and a half minutes while he begged for a chance to breathe — to stay alive.
The crime is horrific but we must avoid seeing policing as the only source of anti-black racism.
Anti-black racism is based on stereotypical white supremist ideas about Black people as a whole — our intellect, capability and morality. This system of domination is kept in place by mostly by white men and women in positions of power.
Anti-black racism happens everywhere in society, including in schools, hospitals, universities, the media, daycare centres, shelters and hostels, on the playground and on public transit. Our society is infested with the sickness of anti-blackness. This means that it takes a lot of people and effort to keep it in place.
These individuals include school principals, hospital and university administrators, news directors, politicians, police chiefs and others. They are your mothers, spouses, sisters, grandparents and neighbours. They make and keep racist and oppressive policies that ensure Black children are taken from their families and placed into foster care systems, Black people have high unemployment rates even when they are educated, and when they are hired, they are harassed on the job and not paid fairly for the work that they do and the talents they have.
The United States of America has done something that Canada fails to do. It has convicted a white police officer for killing a Black man.
We got a conviction, but it is just the beginning. We now have a glimmer of hope and we can build on that. But hope alone is not enough, we need action. Those in positions of influence must use their power to make policy changes, challenge unfair institutional practices and be the champions to keep our hope alive. We pass the baton to white women who sit in the seat of power to start the next revolution.
Dr. Delores V. Mullings is an associate professor and interim associate dean of undergraduate programs in Memorial University’s School of Social Work. Her areas of scholarly interest include antiblack racism and critical race theory. She is a resident of St. John’s.