Thank you for the necessary breather

On Tuesday, in a courtroom in Hennepin County, Minn., a jury of 12 Americans from diverse backgrounds rendered a unanimous verdict convicting Derek Chauvin for the execution of George Perry Floyd Jr. Although approximately 1,000 people are killed each year in America by police, between 2005 and 2019, only 105 police officers were charged, only 35 have been convicted of a crime in total, and only four were convicted of murder, according to research reported by Bowling Green State University.

With Blacks disproportionately represented in these statistics, the conviction of Chauvin, a white officer, killing Floyd, an unarmed Black man, marks a great aberration.

America, particularly Black America, was on tenterhooks awaiting the verdict. The guilty verdicts afforded our nation a necessary breather; a breather is all it is. The dynamics that undergirded the violence demonstrated by Chauvin have not ebbed one iota, He operated within an incurable racist malignant system. It is the work of those who care about justice to take the necessary breather this glimpse of the possible affords. But respect that nothing in policy or procedure has altered the heart of the system.

It is our work to remain vigilant. We know what we must do. Continue to organize whenever we encounter injustice. Be discerning to distinguish attempts at pacification from true disruption of systemic maladies. Elect leaders who we will support when consistent with our values and hold them accountable when they do not.

To the jurors in Minneapolis, thank you for the breather. Now let us continue the work.

REV. RICHARD L. FREEMAN SR.

Pastor Resurrection Baptist Church

Braddock The writer is also president of Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network.