Tag Archives: George Floyd

What a guilty verdict can’t do

Posted on April 20, 2021 by David S. Meyer

Almost everyone exhaled. A jury convicted the former police officer who murdered George Floyd, and everyone in the United States must have been tuned in. It was an extremely unusual verdict; criminal prosecution of police violence against Black men is … Continue reading →

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Cases, Causes, and the next wave of Black Lives Matter

Posted on April 13, 2021 by David S. Meyer

Judge Peter A. Cahill, presiding in Derrick Chauvin’s murder trial, denied a defense motion to sequester the jury. Chauvin, working as a Minneapolis police officer, strangled George Floyd to death last year. His defense wants to keep the rest of … Continue reading →

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Who organized the racial justice demonstrations?

Posted on July 13, 2020 by David S. Meyer

I want to know who’s put together these demonstrations against racialized police violence all across the United States.  The  police  killing  of  George  Floyd  was  a provocation,  but  protests  don’t  automatically  follow  from  injustice. Organizers make demonstrations happen. Those large … Continue reading →

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Why #JusticeforGeorge spurred a national movement

Posted on June 14, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Certainly the Minneapolis police officer who crushed George Floyd’s neck with his knee, or the three other officers who stood by as it happened, had no sense that they’d face punishment, much less spark a national campaign against racial violence.  … Continue reading →

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NASCAR, race, and the Confederate flag–plus a query about Great Neck South

Posted on June 11, 2020 by David S. Meyer

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) officials announced a ban on the Confederate Battle Flag at its events.  At  once,  the  decision  was  a response  to nation-wide demonstrations sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. The organization … Continue reading →

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Statuary impacts: complex causality, the limits of social science, and striking Gen. Lee’s statue

Posted on June 8, 2020 by David S. Meyer

In the wake of a dozen days and nights of protest against racialized police violence, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ordered the removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, that has loomed over the state capital’s Monument Park for … Continue reading →

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Police, provocation, and protest

Posted on May 31, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Bad policing poked an old open wound in American life, one that had suffered continual poking and scratching over the past few weeks, months, years, and turned thousands of people out into the streets in protest. Bad policing of the … Continue reading →

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Protest, Riot, and Rebellion in Minneapolis

Posted on May 29, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis in response to the police killing of George Floyd. And they stayed. Some wore masks and tried to observe public health protocols for social distance. Some carried gas masks. Some broke windows of … Continue reading →

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