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America Is Failing George Floyd
One year after Floyd’s murder, we’re still awaiting actual justice and reform
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
As we near the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death and the worldwide social actions that occurred in response to it, reflections have begun to appear and others are sure to follow. Articles like these seek to measure how much has changed. The majority of them will have to admit that almost nothing has. To acknowledge that sad reality is the honest response, and it dishonors such a profound death to pretend otherwise.
What has changed in a year?
Both the size and the global proliferation of protests following Floyd’s death prove that awareness of the Black struggle has changed, but the extent to which such knowledge has transformed into usable empathy is hard to find. The sheer amount of bias training and equity initiatives implemented by companies and organizations suggest that narratives around race and class have changed. And yet, school teachers have had more bias training than police officers in the year since Floyd was choked to death in front of the world and the spirit of his mother. So what we likely mean by a change in narrative is that the language of White…
