President Joe Biden and his second-in-command, Vice-President Kamala Harris, have severely condemned what they call “systemic racism” in America.
The searchlight has been turned inwards in the aftermath of the court’s verdict in a case against a white policeman who killed a black man in an exceptionally hideous instance of man’s inhumanity to man.
The enormity of the tragedy had ignited worldwide protests against racism and excessive use of force by the police.
“The systemic racism is a stain on our nation’s soul,” was the President’s high-minded lament. A 12-member jury found Dereck Chauvin guilty of all three charges against him ~ second-and third-degree murder and manslaughter ~ after hearing three weeks of testimony and deliberating for just over 10 hours into the “manslaughter” of George Floyd.
The timeline is suggestive of conclusive evidence relating to a crime that perhaps has few parallels in criminal jurisprudence, indeed one that has blighted the conscience of America and the world.
Floyd’s death, embedded in the colour of his skin, had crossed all limits of civility ~ more than most murders generally do ~ just as the more recent killing of six women in Atlanta confirmed the potentially mortal prejudice against Asians in the United States.
It is a measure of the collective relief that the verdict brought cheering people to the streets and motorists honked their way in several major US cities, including Washington and New York. Indeed, unmistakable is the mood of spontaneous celebration that has greeted the court order against Chauvin, the killer of Floyd. Justice for Black America is justice for all of America.
“This case is a turning-point in American history and sends a clear message that we hope is heard in every city and every state,” read the statement advanced by Floyd’s family.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,” were his last words as Chauvin pinned him down with his knee on the pavement of a south Minneapolis intersection. He faces up to 40 years in prison, though the sentence is expected to be pronounced only after eight weeks. For many, the sense of joy was blunted, however, by the tragedy of Floyd’s death and awareness that racial inequality remains deeply rooted in American society.
So too arguably does prejudice against those from Asia, one that has lent a gut-churning dimension to the death of Floyd. African Americans ~ not to forget Asian Americans ~ just want to be treated as humans. Is that asking for too much? The Blacks and Asians are tired of police brutality. Justice has now been meted out with remarkable promptitude. Never was the war-cry ~ Black Lives Matter ~ been so resonant in the echo chambers of the fountainhead of democracy.