Chauvin guilty verdict ‘ does not change US racism’
Failure to propose concrete plans can’t touch root: experts
The jury’s guilty verdict on a former police officer responsible for killing George Floyd induced cheers and tears among many Americans, and was hailed by US politicians, including President Joe Biden, who called it “a step forward” while Western media called it “watershed moment.”
Does the verdict of this case really herald a change in the US deep- seated racial crisis? Chinese analysts said the guilty verdict, although eased anger and anxiety from the George Floyd case for months, failed to touch the very root of US racial problems.
Trumpeting the significance of the case to make political gains also shows the US politicians’ inability to tackle the problem, said observers, noting that despite a glimmer of positivity the verdict represents, it changes with the
US’ racial conundrum.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts Tuesday for causing Floyd’s death. He was convicted of second- and third- degree murder, as well as second- degree manslaughter, which could send him to prison for the rest of his life, media reported.
After the verdict was announced on Tuesday, there were tears and cheers on the streets of Minneapolis. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris praised the verdict as a step forward in the fight against systemic racism.
“This can hardly be called significant at all,” said Lü Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences in Beijing. The expert said that some US politicians are just taking advantage of the case to gain plaudits, but they failed to propose concrete plans to tackle the root of the problem, including a wealth gap and gun control, which shows their inability to solve the problem.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the outcome "a step in the right direction for justice" and thanked Floyd for sacrificing his life for justice. Pelosi’s statement drew wide criticism as many called it “totally inappropriate.”
As anger incited by the Black Lives Matter movement has yet to subside, the rise in hate crimes against Asians widens the country’s deepening racial gap.
“Politicians’ beautiful words have little use in subduing rising racial conflict in the US. Yet their inability to solve the racial problem and continuing to blame others will only drag the US into a more divided society,” said Zhang Tengjun, assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.
“Politicians’ beautiful words have little use in subduing rising racial conflict in the US. Yet their inability to solve the racial problem and continuing to blame others will only drag the US into a more divided society.”
Zhang Tengjun assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies