None of us can forget the moment we saw the murder of George Floyd unfolding before our very eyes. The sight of a white officer’s knee squeezing the life from a helpless Black man in handcuff as he begged for mercy shocked the nation – a nation that had already seen police kill at least 17 other unarmed Black people just five months into the year.
I know what I felt at the time, and I’m sure you know how you felt. But let me share the immediate reaction of someone else:
“It should never happen, should never be allowed to happen, a thing like that. I understand the hurt. I understand the pain. The family of George is entitled to justice, and the people of Minnesota are entitled to live in safety … Americans will honor the memory of George and the Floyd family … It’s a horrible, horrible situation. Those were the words of President Donald Trump.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, President Trump issued an executive order to reform policing. It included a directive to create a publicly searchable database of substantiated misconduct and excessive force claims against federal police officers. It tightened use-of-force rules, banned chokeholds, and encouraged law enforcement to better address the needs of vulnerable populations.
Five years later, with Trump once again in the Oval Office, that commitment to accountability not only has dried up, but reversed itself with a vengeance. Last month he issued an executive order to “unleash” violent police, and his supporters are urging him to pardon George Floyd’s murderer.
At this critical moment, the nation must ask itself the essential question: Did we seize the moment to build a lasting movement, or did we squander the chance for transformative change?
The National League’s new report, George Floyd Five Years Later: Was It A Moment, Or A Movement? examines the ways in which government, institutions, advocates, and the business community mobilized in the five years since George Floyd’s death to advance policing reform and racial justice. It also traces the rise of political and cultural backlash that has challenged, and in some cases reversed, that progress.During the first year after the murder, corporations pledged more than $66 billion to racial justice. These commitments included increased funding for minority-owned businesses, supplier diversity programs, and DEI initiatives. S&P 100 companies grew their U.S. workforce by more than 323,000 in 2021 – and 94 percent of their new hires were people of color. But in the backlash that followed, DEI job postings declined 44 percent from 2022 to 2023. Major companies like Google and Meta cut DEI programs supporting Black talent. Anti-DEI rhetoric gained traction, and anti-equality activists like Edward Blum mounted successful challenges to racial equity programs. Please visit www.triceedneywire.com to read more.
