Early this week, Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis police officer, was found guilty on all three charges including second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter of George Floyd on March 25 last year.  Though this is a step in the right direction, it is one inch compared to the miles that America has to go for change to ensure that police brutality is not as prevalent as it is today. 

Though Chauvin was found guilty on all charges, this is more than a year after George Floyd’s death. Instead of justice being swift, it was prolonged. This feels more like accountability instead of justice. 

How about Ahmed Arbery? Or Breonna Taylor? What about Adam Toledo, who was just 13 years old when he was shot and killed on March 29? What about Ma’Khia Bryant who was shot and killed shortly before the Chauvin verdict was released? What about the countless other individuals who have suffered from police brutality that we might not even know about?

This kind of police brutality can be found throughout American history, and this kind of targeting of African Americans and people of color dates back long before Emmit Till was brutally murdered in 1955. 

Though Chauvin being found guilty is something to definitely celebrate, we have to remember that there are many steps in improving our country for the better. When discussing police brutality, oftentimes people like to say that it’s ‘just one bad apple’ in a batch of good apples. What they don’t understand about this saying is that one bad apple can cause the whole batch of apples to become rotten. 

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