On Monday, May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd had the police called on him when he had allegedly forged a $20 bill, and although he didn’t resist arrest or assault an officer, Floyd was thrown onto the pavement and Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck in an unlawful hold for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, killing Floyd in broad daylight. After a video a bystander captured of the incident surfaced online, national outrage erupted. All through the streets of cities throughout the country , and even worldwide, people demanded justice for Floyd, and demanded that the police and the government know that, “Black Lives Matter.” Since then, countless protests have broken out across the nation, demanding equality, anti-racism, police reform, and justice for other Black individuals killed unjustly. With weeks of protests and demand, a question is posed: have the protests truly made change in America? The answer is slightly complicated and requires a heavy amount of evaluation. 

There has been some change made through the protests, in terms of collective American thought. In a survey from Civiqs, an online survey research firm, found that two weeks after the Black Lives Matter protests began, national support for the Black Lives Matter movement was at a 28-point margin from a 17-point margin before the protests began after George Floyd’s death. This public shift in thinking has rarely, if ever, been seen in history. Most Americans have been moved by George Floyd’s, and many others’, deaths, and persuaded them to truly believe and stand for Black Lives Matter. In a country with its entire history rooted in racism and the oppression of minorities, particularly Black Americans, this public shift in thinking was unexpected and could not have been truly anticipated. 

More change has also occurred aside from a shift in collective nationwide thought. Breonna Taylor’s case has been reopened; Breonna Taylor was a 26 year old black medical technician who lived in Louisville, Kentucky. Taylor was widely regarded as a hero, and loved by many, especially during an international pandemic. Taylor was sleeping in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, when police came in under a No-Knock Warrant. They shot and killed Taylor  in her sleep. More national outrage occured, yet the cops responsible still haven’t been arrested. The Louisville Metro Council also voted unanimously in favor of banning No-Knock Warrants. The ‘Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act’ has been passed by the New York State Senate, making aggravated strangulation a Class C felony. The spark for the present movement, the killing of George Floyd, has seen some justice. The officers who played a part in his murder, whether physically asphyxiating him or being bystanders, have been arrested and will face trial for their acts against an passive Black man. 

Despite the collective change in thinking that has been seen in America and the victories we have seen so far, we still have a long way to go. Systemic racism will not be fixed through painting ‘Black Lives Matter’ in front of the Trump Tower, or renaming streets and institutions. They will try to pacify us with little victories; they will try to pacify us and make the movement end. Now is the time to not stop. Now is the time to get increasingly mad. Now is the time to truly desire, to truly yearn for equality for all those in America. These issues will only be solved if we all care enough to solve them and if we all desire true equality. If “all men are created equal” in America, let’s act like it. Let’s hold ourselves to that line in our Constitution. Keep protesting. Keep demanding change and justice until it occurs. Racism should have no place in our country, nor anywhere in this world. 

by Grayson Lewis