• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Monday, May 12, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

We’re three years on from the murder of George Floyd, and not enough has changed

Glen Black by Glen Black
25 May 2023
in Analysis, Global
Reading Time: 4 mins read
170 2
A A
0
Home Global Analysis
319
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

On 25 May 2020, a white police officer – Derek Chauvin – murdered unarmed Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis, US. Footage of the killing, in which Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, despite Floyd saying he couldn’t breathe, went viral worldwide.  A judge ultimately sentenced Chauvin to more than 22 years in prison.

However, the public response to the murder was about more than just accountability for a single man. There were widespread calls for police defunding and abolition, massive protests including those led by Black Lives Matter, and in some cases outbreaks of communal rage. These focused on the racist white culture of the US and Global North.

However, three years on, opinions on how much has really changed are somewhat dim.

American society has changed… a bit

Speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Floyd’s aunt Angela Harrelson said that she believes public understanding of, and discourse on, systemic racism has progressed. She said:

The conversation is different. People are more open, especially white America, about talking about race relations

People always ask, ‘Do you think it’s getting better?’ Yes.

As an example, she pointed AFP to the prosecution of Chauvin and other officers involved in Floyd’s murder. She also said that the reforms carried out by Minneapolis to its police force and diversity programs now run at universities show how American society has changed.

However, Harrelson was realistic about the rate and scale of such changes. She acknowledged that police killings will continue and that there is “more work to do” on systemic racism:

Twenty years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now, the goal is not to hold a sign that says ‘Black Lives Matter.’ And until we can do that… that’s when we know we have arrived. That’s the goal.

The response petered out

Not everyone feels the same way as Harrelson, though. AFP spoke with Bethany Tamrat, who participated in the protests following Floyd’s murder.

Tamrat agreed that the popular response to Floyd’s murder initially created hope. However, she thought that didn’t translate into real-world changes:

In the moment, during 2020, it felt like there was a shift…. There was a lot of hopefulness… that there was going to be positive change

And I can confidently say three years after that, it was really a facade… It almost feels like we took five steps, only for us to lose 15 steps back.

The backlash against teaching Critical Race Theory is one example, Tamrat said. Florida governor Ron DeSantis passed one such bill. Far from defunding the police, on 15 May, DeSantis signed into law measures that would stop public money being spent on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public colleges and universities in the state.

Tamrat also said to AFP that racial bias remains embedded in legal systems and practices across the US. As a result:

I don’t think people are ready to make the change

‘Lives are at stake’

Jeanelle Austin echoed Tamrat’s sentiment. Austin is the co-founder and executive director of the George Floyd Global Memorial, which describes itself as a “living memorial that inspires all people to pursue justice”. It works with Floyd’s family, local communities, and people across the world.

Austin told AFP that people won’t change because:

we have a system and an industry in our country that requires Black people to be at the bottom.

Despite the calls for abolition, protests, and rioting, Austin said that the unwillingness of many people to really change meant that the spirit of 2020 ground to a halt. She said that after the protests and riots stopped, US society returned to normal, adding that:

business as usual is what caused harm.

She highlighted the police killing of Black man Tyre Nichols in January. Five Black police officers were involved in the Nichols’ death. However, rather than see it as a policing problem, Austin said people described it as “Black-on-Black crime”.

Such problems go beyond policing, she said. She point at problems with the media, education, and healthcare systems, adding that:

lives are at stake. People are dying.

Change begins at home

People worldwide reacted to Floyd’s murder. At first, it led to public conversations about white supremacist society and what people – especially white people – must do to fight it. One such solution for capitalist culture was the strengthening of diversity training in workspaces. However, as Tamrat and Austin outlined, this has done little to actually change the material conditions of Black people in the US and worldwide.

Tamrat told AFP that people are unwilling to make introspective changes to white behaviour and white culture:

[when you] really sit in with yourself and reflect on how you have contributed to racism, how you have these personal biases against certain communities, that takes harder work.

Tamrat suggested that people can start that hard work, though, by:

truly listening to the people that are affected.

Featured image via Loria Shaull/Flickr

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe…

Next Post

UCU have an uphill battle to restore confidence in their own members

Next Post
UCU general secretary Jo Grady addresses a crowd

UCU have an uphill battle to restore confidence in their own members

South Africa cholera outbreak

Cholera-hit South African town blames government for deadly outbreak

Rohingya refugees

Repatriation scheme for Rohingya refugees being piloted among serious human rights concerns

DeSantis poses with flags

DeSantis announces White House bid following long campaign of discrimination

Police teargas a climate protest outside TotalEnergies AGM

Police teargas climate protesters who are disrupting the AGM of an oil giant

Please login to join discussion
Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to run roughshod over Global South communities
News

Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to ride roughshod over Global South communities

by The Canary
12 May 2025
Jenu Kuruba families begin their long-awaited re-occupation of their ancestral homes inside the Nagarhole National Park. They carried photos of loved ones who had died after the village was evicted, so they too can return to the forest.
Analysis

An Indigenous community in India just faced down 130 police to return to their ancestral lands

by The Canary
12 May 2025
Nigel Farage waving Reform
Analysis

Reform’s new ‘manifesto’ is just catnip for the fat cats

by The Canary
12 May 2025
UN experts say Israel has 'criminal responsibility' for 'genocidal conduct'
Analysis

UN experts have now accused Israel of ‘genocidal conduct’ in Gaza

by Maryam Jameela
12 May 2025
A new petition calls for mandatory training for education staff on neurodivergence
News

A new petition calls for mandatory training for education staff on neurodivergence

by The Canary
12 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to run roughshod over Global South communities
News
The Canary

Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to ride roughshod over Global South communities

Jenu Kuruba families begin their long-awaited re-occupation of their ancestral homes inside the Nagarhole National Park. They carried photos of loved ones who had died after the village was evicted, so they too can return to the forest.
Analysis
The Canary

An Indigenous community in India just faced down 130 police to return to their ancestral lands

Nigel Farage waving Reform
Analysis
The Canary

Reform’s new ‘manifesto’ is just catnip for the fat cats

UN experts say Israel has 'criminal responsibility' for 'genocidal conduct'
Analysis
Maryam Jameela

UN experts have now accused Israel of ‘genocidal conduct’ in Gaza

ADVERTISEMENT
Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Why More People Are Seeking Legal Advice When Separating

Travel
Nathan Spears

Hungary Vignette Adventures: Discovering Hidden Gems by Car

How Social Media Affects the Mental Health of Young Adults Today
Tech
The Canary

How Social Media Affects the Mental Health of Young Adults Today