But that is not the same as saying that justice for George Floyd was done.
In all, Derek Chauvin's conviction for murdering George Floyd was just. Ultimately, for Americans of conscience there was a sense of relief and exhalation at the verdict. Many of Floyd's friends, family members and others in the Minneapolis community where he lived and was murdered cried and were otherwise overwhelmed with emotion. There was cheering in the streets of Minnesota and other parts of the country by Black and brown folks, and a good number of white folks as well, in response to the fact that George Floyd's killer had been convicted of his obvious crimes. He has also received substantial sums of money from online fundraisers. Yet white privilege always finds a way to endure: Chauvin will still receive a police pension potentially worth more than $1 million. The predictably enraged responses by the white right shows that Chauvin's narcissistic injury in that moment was widely shared by many of those invested in a particular type of whiteness and white masculinity.ĭuring that moment when Chauvin heard the verdict, the psychological wages of whiteness offered insufficient compensation for him and the white right. The verdict was an existential injury to his personhood and social status as a white man. He was socialized into believing that as a white police officer - and white man in America - he is above the law. If Chauvin had not been convicted, would we have seen another summer of uprisings and people's resistance as occurred last year in the immediate aftermath of Floyd's murder?Īs he listened to the verdict, Derek Chauvin appeared stunned. The United States and the world held their collective breath in anticipation of the verdict.
Police are almost never found guilty of murder and other serious crimes - and this is especially true when the victims are Black or brown and the police are white. Chauvin now faces a possible sentence of up to 40 years in prison, although the final sentence will likely be much shorter. On Tuesday, Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty on three counts of murder and manslaughter for the killing of George Floyd.
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