NEW ORLEANS — Tuesday marked one year since the police killing of George Floyd. One former Minneapolis police officer has been convicted of second-degree murder. Three other officers charged in Floyd’s death are awaiting trial.
The case set off protests and demonstrations across the world. We saw several of them here in the New Orleans.
Vera Warren Williams owns the Community Book Center on Bayou Road in New Orleans. It’s a Black owned and operated business. Warren Williams says after George Floyd’s murder she saw more people coming into the store, wanting to learn more about issues like racism and the lasting effects of slavery.
She says she is seeing another influx of people as video of Louisiana State troopers beating a Black man is being condemned.
“We have a lot of work as a country and community to do,” Warren Williams said.
At least six Louisiana State troopers were involved in Greene’s 2019 arrest. Several of those troopers are seen on body cam video tasing, beating and dragging Greene. They’re the focus of a federal civil rights investigation.
“There’s nothing about those videos that look like they can be explained away, just like nobody could explain away George Floyd,” Loyola University Criminology and Justice Professor Ronal Serpas said.
In reflecting on the past year of so-called racial reckoning, Vera Warren Williams says police brutality is very much a reality and a threat to the black community.
“The protests, the demonstrations, it has brought about a little change with the conviction of (Derek) Chauvin, but there are many Chauvin’s out there,” Warren Williams said.
Serpas says cities and states are trying to respond to the loud calls for police reform. He says the social and racial unrest we’ve witnessed can also present an opportunity to install some practical policies.
“I think the first thing we need to do is stop talking about defunding police because neighborhoods need police. I think we need to start talking about sending mental health professionals on those calls that don’t result in danger or injury because those are the best professionals to send,” Serpas said.
In the year since Floyd’s death race, politics and policing have all intersected. As we’ve recently heard in viewer voicemails sent to WWL-TV, some people are disappointed in how race has been covered in mainstream media, including on Channel 4.
“I think race relations have only gotten worse because of the fact that we keep pushing the fact that America is racist when it’s not,” said one woman.
“You have a large portion of these people that are absolutely worthless, OK? They contribute nothing to society,” said one man who expressed anger and exhaustion over the ongoing discussions about race and identity.
Vera Warren Williams says she’ll agree with only a bit of that previous viewer voicemail. She too is tired of talking about change.
“We are talking too much about it. I think now is the time to start acting on it,” Warren Williams said.
Warren Williams says this past year has given her some reason to believe race relations can improve. She says before the Floyd case, her store barely had any traffic. That has changed. Now she hopes the people who’ve come to buy books will read them and apply their messages to their lives.