System Change
This week the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd unfolded with painful, haunting testimony from eyewitnesses. Ranging in ages from 9 to 61 years old, witnesses explained what they saw, and the burdens they now carry. Not since the killing of Emmett Till have Americans as a whole been brought face to face with the brutality that routinely moves through the lives of African Americans and all of us who are the marginalized and disrespected people of our land.
The trial closed this week with the testimony of Minneapolis police officer Lt. Richard Zimmerman, a homicide detective and the longest serving officer in the department. He straightforwardly denounced the actions of Derek Chauvin. He said the kind of force used was “unnecessary,” “uncalled for” and “violated department policy.” For some people, this testimony signals the first serious crack in what is often called the blue wall of silence, where police officers refuse to testify against other officers.
Zimmerman had been part of a group of officers who broke this silence shortly after George Floyd died. He and thirteen others published a public letter to the citizens of Minneapolis, expressing their horror at Chauvin’s conduct. Claiming to speak for the majority of officers, the group said:
We wholeheartedly condemn Derek Chauvin. We Are With You in the denouncement of Derek Chauvin’s actions on Memorial Day, 2020. Like us, Derek Chauvin took an oath to hold the sanctity of life most precious. Derek Chauvin failed as a human and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are.
It is important to acknowledge that all systems are collections of single human beings, and within any system, there are people struggling to act on principles and values. Separating the efforts of individuals trying to find their way to decency within inherently indecent systems is essential to the long-term transformations we are working to bring to life. But we should not be lulled into thinking that these few individuals are the essence of a system dedicated to death, willing to use any means necessary to protect power and privilege.
In fact, bringing death of George Floyd and people who look like him is exactly who the police are. Consider just Minneapolis for a moment. The police department has a long history of bringing conflict and death in the African American community. According to a New York Times recent analysis, “Only about 20 percent of Minneapolis residents are Black, but about 60 percent of use-of-force incidents with the Minneapolis police involve Black people… The city’s police officers use force against Black people at seven times the rate of white people.” The killing of George Floyd came in the context of a series of killings of black men, including Jamar Clark (2015), Philando Castile(2016) whose death was livestreamed, and Thurman Blevins(2018) who shouted, “Please don’t shot me.”
The department’s own statistics document that since 2015, police engaged in 11,500 acts of force, at least 6,650 were suffered by African Americans. These included kicks, neck holds, punches, shoves, takedowns, Mace, Tasers and knees on necks.
Racism and deadly force are part and parcel of policing in the USA. Minneapolis’s first Black chief, Medaria Arradondo, once filed a lawsuit accusing the department for tolerating racism.
Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd after a history of violence and excessive force.
In the wake of the killing and the hundreds of nationwide protests, we have seen over and over again that violence, military force, and deadly weapons are brought to bear against those who cry out for justice.
Justice means more than finding Derek Chauvin guilty of murder. We need to dismantle the systems that produced him.