“Every once in a while, somewhere in the world, humanity goes on trial. And integrity. And decency. Every once in a while, common folks get called on to give the report card for the human race. In the name of humanity, do your duty, as you must.”
- Nels Gudmundsson, “Snow Falling on Cedars”
This fictional quote reflects an attorney beseeching a jury of his community members to perform their civic duty for a man of color who lived through the dual atrocities of war and internment. He implores them to see his client as human. A relatively low bar, but today’s date requires me to start with the basics.
We are at a turning point as Americans. Or not.
A year ago today, the life of a Black man was extinguished by pure malevolence, indifference to his suffering, and a fractured system of justice.
In the year since, a bit of humanity went on trial and curiously, almost unexpectedly, a bit of justice prevailed and the man who, endowed with the power of state violence authored George Floyd’s demise was himself removed from society for the foreseeable future.
Today is neither a celebration nor even a time of solemn remembrance. Today marks the 365th consecutive day that this incessant cycle of police brutality (particularly to Black men), qualified immunity, inadequate training, the prison-industrial complex, impotent policymakers, and powerful protectionist police unions continues to enable the unrelenting churn of violence visited upon people of color, under the color of law, day after day.
Today is a reminder of the scores of Black folks killed by police even after the hue and cry of society, the marches, policy changes and new laws, the editorials, the news stories, the statistics, and the promises made since George Floyd’s death.
Today let us acknowledge that one conviction, one Senate election, one Black president, one Black Asian vice president are steps. But none of these are remedies for the systemic, intentional and transparent changes that must occur for integrity and decency and, yes, our very humanity to prevail.
Today is a marker for all of the hard work done over the past year, especially under the leadership of Black communities, and the hard work yet to come. Today all of us in society are required to do our duty to institute these changes and see them through, as we must.
So today, again, we must mourn George Floyd. We must personalize his loss, and the untold losses of community members who will never be counted. And we must collectively resolve to bury the platitudes and denials and do our duty to make change.