Reform movements can’t last without hope. The Chauvin jury gave us some.

Reform movements can’t last without hope. The Chauvin jury gave us some.

Washington Post

By Andrea Benjamin

Andrea Benjamin, an associate professor of African and African American studies at the University of Oklahoma, is the author of "Racial Coalition Building in Local Elections: Elite Cues and Cross-Ethnic Voting."

April 21, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. GMT+9

The system is still badly broken, but incremental progress seems possible.

People gathered at George Floyd Plaza in Minneapolis on Tuesday celebrate after hearing that Derek Chauvin was convicted in Floyd's murder. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

After the murder of George Floyd was caught on video in May, people across the country took to the streets to protest. I was among them. We voiced our anger, sadness and frustration — but that’s not all we did. Across the country, many people also started attending — virtually or otherwise — their local city council meetings. Police violence against Black men and women is a national issue, but local government is where accountability takes place, and where ordinary folks can push the levers of power.

I threw myself into local action, too, after Floyd’s death. A professor of African and African American studies, I — along with my fellow Oklahoma City residents Maurianna Adams and Quintin Hughes Sr. — formed an organization called Communities for Human Rights, to combat racism and discrimination in our city.

People can accept that reform happens slowly, if citizens see signs that the system will hold people accountable at the most basic level. Absent hope, reform is impossible. For that reason, an acquittal for Derek Chauvin would have been devastating. The cynicism such a move would have caused would have deflated the myriad pushes for local change across the country.

Story continues below advertisement

Now that Chauvin has been found guilty of murder and manslaughter, many of us feel a sense of relief. The outcome was far from inevitable, despite the overwhelming evidence. The officers who ruthlessly beat Rodney King 30 years ago in Los Angeles — an attack also captured on video — were acquitted. The officer who placed Eric Garner in a chokehold in New York City, in 2014, was never charged. Police killings have continued during the Chauvin trial.

Tuesday’s verdict is welcome, but it is not a moment to celebrate and it is not, in the larger sense, justice: George Floyd is still dead. The system is still broken: Overall, the criminal justice system does not sufficiently protect Black Americans.

Still, it’s now possible to maintain the expectation that incremental progress is possible — in Minneapolis, Oklahoma City and elsewhere.

We have seen substantial, if modest, advancements in my city; and the coming together of ordinary citizens, activists and organizations has been impressive. When we began our campaign to address human rights violations, we started by gathering support, in a general way, from residents and community partners. As we looked at what other municipalities were doing, we noticed a glaring omission: Most large cities have human rights commissions, on which community members serve — or related city departments — that address these concerns. Oklahoma City had one for 30 years, until it was dissolved in 1996; we asked that it be reestablished.

Story continues below advertisement

Networking nationally, we researched the difference that such commissions have made in other cities. In 2014, for instance, the Durham Human Relations Commission, in North Carolina, issued a report finding that the police in that city were racially profiling Black and Latino residents during traffic stops. Although the police chief denied these claims, the report called for the Durham Police Department to get written consent from drivers before searches were conducted. The city eventually implemented such a policy.

In Oklahoma, the city’s mayor appointed a task force to study our proposal — which then voted, in March, to reestablish the commission that we sought. The task force will present the ordinance to the city council in the coming weeks.

What’s happening here — a steady push for racial justice — is happening across the country. And our efforts are bearing fruit beyond bureaucratic commitment to enforce human rights. Our local Arnall Family Foundation, for instance, created a Black social justice fund “to advance racial equity and justice in Oklahoma City.” It has already distributed almost $300,000 to support 17 projects run by Black-led organizations.

Story continues below advertisement

A year ago, I wrote that I was at best cautiously optimistic about the ability of justified protests to sway public opinion, and about the potential for police reform — even given what the Floyd video showed. White people, I observed, tend to express enthusiasm about racial justice in the abstract, yet retreat when presented with specifics. After the Chauvin verdict, I have been nudged, however slightly, toward the view that through community engagement, we can get closer to justice for everyone. The jury could have gutted grass-roots activism by failing to hold Chauvin to account. It did not do the wrong thing, and that is not nothing.

Original link at https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/04/21/chauvin-jury-gave-hope-reformers/