In my opinion, any verdict in Chauvin’s case will provide fuel for a continued transformation and racial reckoning of America’s democracy, no matter the spin or narrative. Even as the defense uses old illogical tactics of questioning Floyd’s character and opioid use to blame the victim, woke Americans are too familiar with the narrative’s falsity.
Interestingly, the common description for White opioid users is empathy and victimization, which further illustrates the disregard for Black lives and Floyd’s in particular.
I digress back to Chauvin’s fate.
A guilty verdict means we will have to consider the immunities afforded to law enforcement and officers of the court as instruments of our democracy. Any other ruling will call into question those same immunities and our faith in democracy with harsher realities. Ultimately, African American liberation advocates and our allies must still hold America’s systems to the highest democratic standards. Our Black intellect, hope, and resiliency are gifts we owe to ourselves, which continue to create possibilities for others as well.
—patrick graham, ph.d., is a public sector executive and historian.
