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The Nation is on Trial
We are all witnesses to what may be called the trial of the century. If nothing else, an American inflection point. The alleged crime is assault, murder, and in my mind under the color of law. The man on trial is former. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. I write this because at times it feels as the person on trial is George Floyd. This will be even more obvious once the defense starts to present their case. This is the defense out for Chauvin.
At the heart of the argument, though this is exactly how the adversarial system of justice works, is systemic racism. This is why George Floyd was treated like a dangerous criminal over a bad twenty-dollar bill. This is also why many communities of color feel the police are not there to protect them but are an occupation force. The distrust did not start today, and assuming this trial ends in the conviction of the officer, which would be a good first step, it will take decades for bad feelings and distrust to subside.
These are not accidental and come from a very long history of bias and systemic racism in the legal system. These start at the level of the streets and contact with the officers. The history of law enforcement in the United States is wrapped with slave patrols and social control of minorities. The courts were also used as a means of social control, and the war on drugs has sent a lot of people to prison for both…