We mostly agree that there ought to be justice, and we doubt that justice happens here in the U.S. for immigrants, Hispanic, Black, Asian or Native American people, unless they are very rich. In a case involving police violence, few expect actual justice anymore.
Columnist Marcus Harrison Green expressed just how far we remain away from equality [“The Chauvin verdict is simply justice. Why are we celebrating it?,” April 20, Local News].
Still, the incredible jubilation at the trial over George Floyd’s death and across the nation when the verdict was announced made sense. There had been hope, but little confidence, about the outcome.
The knowledge that cops just don’t get held accountable when they murder Black men loomed large. The courthouse and the streets were full of people fearing mostly that this trial would end in acquittal, and with riots, looting, people getting killed, property destroyed and Black Americans denied again. But that did not happen.
The guilty verdict shocked us with an incredibly reassuring relief, ratifying and renewing our hopes that America might be able to be fixed. Equal justice might someday be possible, and equality might one day rise to match the dream. And for that, we were all in that moment screaming our heads off with joy.
George Robertson, Seattle