Try as they might, Black activists have been falling short of bringing real change to America as they continue to protests against police brutality and other discriminatory practices going on across the country. While demonstrations continue in the streets and social media keeps the hashtag strong, Black voices continue to fall on deaf ears.
The protests in nearly every major city in America, and even in several cities across the globe, have done their best to bring their issues to light. However, they seem to be hitting several roadblocks that keep them from making real change. While some small victories have been made, like the complete overhaul of the Minneapolis Police Department after the killing of George Floyd in May, major changes across the nation in the form of legislation and other permanent results have yet to be made.
President Trump signed an executive order in June that instructed police departments to “improve training” however critics largely agreed that it was severely lacking compared to what really needed to be done to “curb police officers’ use of force against nonwhites.” Those who do cry out for legislation have loud barks but no bite. Delaware Senator Chris Coons, for example, is one of many democratic representatives that are calling for action, but with republicans blocking them at every turn nothing ever really gets done. A bill is worthless if all it does is remain a headline behind a wall of infighting.
Meanwhile, down on the streets, not much is getting done either. Protests have managed to stay strong and continue throughout the summer this year but are getting drowned out by the coronavirus and the upcoming elections hogging most of the media spotlight. With each occurance of another unjust case of police brutality against a Black citizen the protests are reignited, but they are not enough to win the political game of tug-of-war that seems to be split in three different directions. Had this been a non-election, virus free year, real legislation would been a very real possibility, even with a republican controlled Senate.
Hopefully next year, if democrats can win the presidential election as well as the Senate, some real changes could be made to appease the Black Lives Matter Movement. This also hinges on a vaccine being found for the Coronavirus so that concerns about protests spreading the bug can be put to rest. As long as no other major events don’t come up it should be the perfect time to finally make some real legislative changes to help improve the lives of Black Americans. We can only cross our fingers until then.
The American Centrist 