Kenosha Shooting Reminds Us of the Myth of Progress in a Post-George Floyd World
Protesters gather in Minneapolis, MN to demand justice for Jacob Blake, who was shot by police in Kenosha, WI. After being the national center of attention for a police murder earlier this summer, the city has shown it’s commitment to seeing justice through. Source.
It wasn’t longer than three months ago when America experienced a supposed racial awakening — a real, albeit long overdue, ‘hallelujah’ moment. A moment when so many White and other non-Black Americans, at last, had their eyes forced open to the grim realities of systemic racism in the country. Indeed, in what has been called the largest demonstrations in U.S history, upwards of 28 million people took to the streets over a few weeks to protest racial injustice after the murder of Black man George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 22, 2020. The message was clear: the nation has enough political pussyfooting. It’s high-time to, among other things, take tangible, legislative steps toward ending police misconduct in the country.
The legal result? Numerous proposals, laws, and public directives hammered away at all levels of government aimed at uprooting police brutality and racial bias. But, other than a whole lot of pretty text and colorful speeches, what have actually seen? The truth: numerous more Black people murdered by police since George Floyd’s death, among them David McAtee, Rayshard Brooks, Dion Johnson, Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis, with the latest case of brutality being against unarmed Black motorist Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who was shot seven times in the back by police officer Rusten Sheskey and is currently paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors do not yet know if the injuries sustained will be permanent.
If Blake’s shooting and ones prior should tell us anything about our current state of affairs, it’s that even after the undoubtedly paradigm-shifting George Floyd protests, we should expect America to be stuck in her old, racially unjust ways for some time to come. Of course, this comes as absolutely no surprise for Black America, which for centuries has had to fight for even the most basic of rights at a rate of progress actively, if not deliberately, stopped and strangled by White society. But for the rest of us, including those who picked up and read a copy of White Fragility before calling it a day, every post-George Floyd shooting should be a stark, tragic, and necessary reminder of what real progress, real activism, in this country actually looks like — Hint: it’s not pretty, not straightforward, and certainly takes a lot more than just your newfound ‘awareness’ of the issue.
None of this is to say that the George Floyd protests — or even the ongoing protests in Kenosha — were, or are, in vain. Not only do these protests in particular stand out as powerful displays of our constitutional freedom of assembly, but they’re also unprecedented in how they’ve been able to drive crucial conversations about race up to the national forefront. Because of the protests, for example, measures such as the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, the George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act, and Ending Qualified Immunity Act have been introduced to Congress. But the keyword here is introduced, i.e. not actually passed, i.e largely stillborn thanks to proverbial partisan gridlock: the closest thing to change we’ve seen at the federal level is Trump’s toothless “Safe Policing for Safe Communities” Executive Order, which has been criticized by the left as weak and “non-reformist”.
So, the question is not so much about how momentous the George Floyd protests were — that much is obvious. The question is, and with every Floyd, Brooks, or Blake, always will be: How do we turn that momentum into something durable, something more targeted and fruitful? It’s a question every activist dedicated to their cause knows the answer to. The messy world of partisan politics, however, ensures that there’s no easy, primrose path to get to where they want, even if the solutions are as seemingly simple as community oversight or demilitarization.
Republicans made that polarization loud and clear at Republican National Convention earlier this week, many parroting President Trump’s ‘law and order’ approach to the protests in general while side-stepping overarching questions of racial injustice. “Trump and Republicans will always stand with the men and women who serve on the thin blue line of law enforcement,” Vice President Mike Pence announced.at the event “We’re going to back the blue.” Meanwhile, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) signed Executive Order #84 on Monday, requiring state legislators to convene to consider a package nine police reform bills after Blake’s shooting.
“Today I am calling for a Special Session of the Legislature to take up the package of legislation we announced earlier this year,” Evers said. “We must begin the long but important path toward ensuring our state and our country start to live up to our promises of equity and justice.” Although his efforts are subpar, his sentiment stands.
Amidst all this contradiction and confusion, however, one thing remains certain: giving up is not an option.