Confederate statues are gone, but few see progress since 2020
A vast majority of Americans say the increased focus on race and racial inequality after police killed George Floyd in 2020 didn't lead to changes that improved the lives of Black Americans, a new Pew Research Center survey finds.
The big picture: Over months of protests in Richmond that year, police tear-gassed protesters, streets burned and people sprayed graffiti on Confederate monuments that were eventually taken down.
The city's landscape is forever changed because of it.
Zoom in: Monument Avenue is a succession of grassy mounds filling in the plots where the vestiges of our Confederate past stood for over 100 years.
The peed-on Jefferson Davis statue that protesters took down now lies inside The Valentine.
And scraps of other monuments fill a statue graveyard by the city's wastewater treatment plant.
Yes, but: Five years later, the momentum appears all but gone.
The creation of the region's first Civilian Review Board began in 2020, but it's still in limbo.
City Council has yet to adopt the policies dictating how the board would review and investigate use-of-force incidents. Legislation to do so was withdrawn in April.
And the Marcus Alert System, a program meant to limit police involvement in mental health crises, has struggled with staffing.
By the numbers: Nationwide, 72% of Americans say the increased focus on racial inequality didn't lead to significant changes that helped Black people, per Pew.
More than half of U.S. adults (54%) say the relationship between Black people and police is about the same as before Floyd was killed.
82% of Black Americans say the nation hasn't gone far enough when it comes to Black people having equal rights with white people.
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The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
ICE raids accelerate, protests spread
Evening Report is The Hill's P.M. newsletter. Sign up here or subscribe in the box below: Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here THE WHITE HOUSE vowed Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids would continue 'unabated,' as protests spread from Los Angeles into other major American cities. Demonstrations have sprung up in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, Austin, Denver, San Francisco and other major cities. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) sought to rally the nation to his side, as U.S. Marines prepared to join National Guard troops dispatched to keep the peace in Los Angeles. 'This isn't just about protests here in Los Angeles,' Newsom said in a direct-to-camera address. 'This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes.' The White House warned protesters there would be consequences if demonstrations in other cities get out of hand. 'Let this be an unequivocal message to left-wing radicals in other parts of the country who might be thinking about copy-catting the violence in an effort to stop this administration's mass deportation efforts,' said press secretary Karoline Leavitt. 'You will not succeed. Any lawlessness will only strengthen this president's resolve to defend the majority of Americans who want to live their lives peacefully, free from the fear of violent criminal illegal aliens.' The New York Police Department said at least 80 people were arrested at anti-ICE protests in lower Manhattan on Tuesday night. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) deployed the National Guard to deal with protests in his state. 'Peaceful protest is legal,' Abbott posted on X. 'Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest. @TexasGuard will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order.' ICE took more than 70 people into custody during an immigration enforcement operation at a meat packaging facility in Omaha. Leavitt said more than 330 people in the country illegally have been arrested in Los Angeles over the past few days, and that more than 100 had prior criminal convictions. 'This administration is going to continue the mass deportation effort that the president promised the American public,' she said. President Trump's border czar Tom Homan said the protests are making immigration raids and deportations 'difficult' and 'dangerous' for the officers seeking to carry them out. 'They're not going to stop us,' Homan told 'NBC Nightly News' anchor Tom Llamas. 'They're not going to slow us down.' Organizers with 'No Kings' are planning about 1,500 demonstrations across the country to protest the military parade scheduled for Saturday in D.C. to mark the Army's 250th birthday. It's also Trump's 79th birthday. Protests and boycotts could also be in effect tonight at the Kennedy Center, where Trump and first lady Melania Trump will attend a production of 'Les Misérables.' LOS ANGELES ON EDGE Hundreds of U.S. Marines are expected to be deployed soon alongside the thousands of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, which has been racked by vandalism, looting and some violent altercations with the police. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) instituted an 8 p.m. curfew on Tuesday night, resulting in dozens of arrests for those who stayed out. Two men have been arrested for allegedly possessing Molotov cocktails. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Los Angeles is 'at a good point.' 'We're hoping it's going to get under control, we hope the curfew will work and we're going to continue to do everything we can to keep California safe if the government of California is not going to help them,' Bondi said. Newsom fumed at what he described as federal interference that furthered the chaos. 'This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation,' he said. A judge rejected Newsom's request to limit troop deployment, pending a Thursday hearing. The Department of Justice called Newsom's lawsuit a 'crass political stunt.' On Thursday, three Democratic governors from blue 'Sanctuary States' will testify before Congress: Govs. Tim Walz (Minn.), Kathy Hochul (New York) and JB Pritzker. 'Sanctuary cities and states will no longer be allowed to shield illegal criminal from deportation,' Leavitt said. 💡Perspectives: • American Conservative: Trump, Newsom play to their bases. Who will win? • Washington Post: Dems ignored the border. The consequences are here. • The Liberal Patriot: Both parties lose the plot on immigration. • The New York Times: The military may find itself in an impossible situation. • City Journal: Trump's unapologetic defense of the rule of law. Read more: • Trump team to send thousands of migrants to Guantanamo. • McIver indicted on federal charges for immigration center encounter. • Senate Dems spar with Hegseth over legality of Los Angeles deployments. • Dems rage against Trump's moves in LA, as some worry about optics. • GOP backs Trump on LA, but there's skepticism over deploying Marines. CATCH UP QUICK NEWS THIS AFTERNOON Trump, Musk talk reconciliation President Trump and Elon Musk are talking about reconciliation, days after their relationship imploded in a mess of threats and allegations. Early Wednesday morning, Musk expressed regret over the feud, which he escalated by alleging Trump had ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week,' Musk wrote just after 3 a.m. EDT. 'They went too far.' Trump, who threatened to end government contracts for Musk's companies, was asked if he could reconcile with Musk. 'I guess I could,' Trump said in a podcast interview. 'But you know, we have to straighten out the country. Yeah, and my sole function now is getting this country back to a level higher than it's ever been.' Trump said he was mostly upset at Musk for trying to sink his 'big, beautiful bill.' Musk has been raging at the levels of spending and debt in the Trump agenda bill ever since his time at the White House leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) came to an end. 'I have no hard feelings,' Trump told the New York Post's Miranda Devine. 'I was really surprised that that happened,' Trump continued. 'He went after a bill… And when he did that, I was not a happy camper.' The New York Times reports that Trump and Musk spoke on the phone ahead of Musk's expression of regret. The latest on the 'big, beautiful bill'… Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says he'll keep senators in Washington during the July 4 recess to complete work on Trump's agenda bill by the self-imposed deadline. House Republicans are teeing up changes to the bill, with intent of voting later this week. The Hill's Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks explain: 'The tweaks come after the Senate parliamentarian reviewed the sprawling package and identified provisions that do not comply with the upper chamber's procedural requirements for using the budget reconciliation process, which allows Republicans to circumvent a Democratic filibuster and approve the legislation by simple majority.' MEANWHILE… A pair of House panels voted to advance legislation laying out oversight of the crypto market, amid opposition from Democrats. And House Republicans advanced legislation that calls for more than $450 billion to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction and other programs for fiscal 2026. It's the first of the 12 annual funding bills House GOP appropriators are hoping to move out of committee before Congress leaves for its August recess. 💡Perspectives: • The Spectator: The tech-MAGA alliance is far from over. • Very Serious: A terrible field of New York mayoral candidates. • The Hill: Trump, Congress can end abuse of taxpayers by PBS and NPR. • The Guardian: Trump wages war against U.S. citizens. • MSNBC: Americans prep for nationwide 'No Kings' rallies. Read more: • House GOP schedule interviews with former Biden aides. • Foreign investors recoil from 'discriminatory' tax in Trump's big bill. • 5 takeaways from the New Jersey primaries. • Sergio Gor cements himself as 'vital' part of Trump's White House. • Most voters in favor of Trump's 'most favored nation' drug price policy. IN OTHER NEWS US, China agree to new trade framework U.S. and Chinese officials announced an agreement in principle on a new trade framework after three days of meetings in London. The deal effectively restores a previous agreement, which the U.S. had accused China of breaking. Both countries will lower tariffs and roll back export controls on goods that are critical to technology. The deal still must be signed off on by President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump said over Truth Social the U.S. would impose 55 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, while China would impose a 10 percent tariff on U.S. products. In addition, China will supply magnets and 'any necessary rare earths,' while the U.S. will draw back restrictions on Chinese students attending U.S. universities, Trump said. Trump enjoyed a raft of good news on trade and the economy on Wednesday. An appeals court ruled that the bulk of Trump's tariffs can remain in place for now, extending a pause after a different court ruled the tariffs were illegal. 'A great and important win for the U.S.,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. And the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data showed inflation coming in lower than expected, contrary to economic forecasts that predicted tariffs would provoke a spike in inflation. Trump has openly pressured Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, but Powell has refused, citing uncertainty from the trade wars. Vice President Vance ripped the Fed on Wednesday, saying Trump has been proven right. 'The president has been saying this for a while, but it's even more clear: the refusal by the Fed to cut rates is monetary malpractice,' Vance posted on X. 💡Perspectives: • The Hill: Military spending is out of control. • The New Republic: The audacity of Trump's self-dealing. • USA Today: Progressives are destroying Democratic norms. • Wall Street Journal: Newsom positions himself as leader of the opposition. • The Economist: Is there a woke right? Read more: • GM investing $4 billion in production shift to US. Someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up to get your own copy: See you next time!
The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
US scales back personnel in Middle East as Israel-Iran tensions mount
The United States is scaling back the number of personnel in the Middle East as the tensions between longtime foes Israel and Iran mount. The U.S. is downsizing its footprint in Iraq, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has greenlighted the departures of military dependents across Northeast Africa, the Middle East, and portions of South and Central Asia. 'President Trump is committed to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad. In keeping with that commitment, we are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies,' a State Department official told The Hill in an emailed statement on Wednesday. 'Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our Mission in Iraq.' A defense official told The Hill's sister network NewsNation that 'Hegseth has authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the CENTCOM AOR.' 'CENTCOM is working in close coordination with our Department of State counterparts, as well as our Allies and partners in the region to maintain a constant state of readiness to support any number of missions around the world at any time,' the defense official added. DEVELOPING
Los Angeles Times
27 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Images of unrest, political spin distort the reality on the ground in L.A.
Driverless Waymo vehicles, coated with graffiti and engulfed in flames. Masked protesters, dancing and cavorting around burning American flags. Anonymous figures brazenly blocking streets and shutting down major freeways, raining bottles and rocks on the police, while their compatriots waved Mexican flags. The images flowing out of Los Angeles over nearly a week of protests against federal immigration raids have cast America's second most populous city as a terrifying hellscape, where lawbreakers rule the streets and regular citizens should fear to leave their homes. In the relentless fever loop of online and broadcast video, it does not matter that the vast majority of Los Angeles neighborhoods remain safe and secure. Digital images create their own reality and it's one that President Trump and his supporters have used to condemn L.A. as a place that is 'out of control' and on the brink of total collapse. The images and their true meaning and context have become the subject of a furious debate in the media and among political partisans, centered on the true roots and victims of the protests, which erupted on Friday as the Trump administration moved aggressively to expand its arrests of undocumented immigrants. As the president and his supporters in conservative media tell it, he is the defender of law and order and American values. They cast their opponents as dangerous foreign-born criminals and their feckless enablers in the Democratic Party and mainstream media. The state's political leaders and journalists offer a compelling rebuttal: that Trump touched off several days of protest and disruption with raids that went far beyond targeting criminals, as he previously promised, then escalated the conflict by taking the highly unusual step of sending the National Guard and Marines to Southern California. Reaction to the raids by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the subsequent turmoil will divide Americans on what have become partisan lines that have become so predictable they are 'calcified,' said Lynn Vavreck, a political science professor at UCLA. 'The parties want to build very different worlds, voters know it, and they know which world they want to live in,' said Vavreck, who has focused on the country's extreme political polarization. 'And because the parties are so evenly divided, and this issue is so personal to so many, the stakes are very high for people.' As a curfew was imposed Tuesday, the sharpest street confrontations appeared to be fading and a national poll suggested Americans have mixed feelings about the events that have dominated the news. The YouGov survey of 4,231 people found that 50% disapprove of the Trump administration's handling of deportations, compared with 39% who approve. Pluralities of those sampled also disagreed with Trump's deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Southern California. But 45% of those surveyed by YouGov said they disapprove of the protests that began after recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Another 36% approved of the protests, with the rest unsure how they feel. Faced with a middling public response to the ICE raids and subsequent protests, Trump continued to use extreme language to exaggerate the magnitude of the public safety threat and to take credit for the reduction in hostilities as the week progressed. In a post on his TruthSocial site, he suggested that, without his military intervention, 'Los Angeles would be burning just like it was burning a number of months ago, with all the houses that were lost. Los Angeles right now would be on fire.' In reality, agitators set multiple spot fires in a few neighborhoods, including downtown Los Angeles and Paramount, but the blazes in recent days were tiny and quickly controlled, in contrast to the massive wildfires that devastated broad swaths of Southern California in January. Trump's hyperbole continued in a fundraising appeal to his supporters Tuesday. In it, he again praised his decision to deploy the National Guard (without the approval of California Gov. Gavin Newsom), concluding: 'If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.' The Republican had assistance in fueling the sense of unease. His colleagues in Congress introduced a resolution to formally condemn the riots. 'Congress steps in amid 'out-of-control' Los Angeles riots as Democrats resist federal help,' Fox News reported on the resolution, being led by Rep. Young Kim of Orange County. A journalist based in New Delhi pronounced, based on unspecified evidence, that Los Angeles 'is descending into a full-blown warzone.' Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas Collins suggested that the harm from the protesters was spreading; announcing in a social media post that a care center for vets in downtown L.A. had been temporarily closed. 'To the violent mobs in Los Angeles rioting in support of illegal immigrants and against the rule of law,' his post on X said, 'your actions are interfering with Veterans' health care.' A chyron running with a Fox News commentary suggested 'Democrats have lost their mind,' as proved by their attempts to downplay the anti-ICE riots. Many Angelenos mocked the claims of a widespread public safety crisis. One person on X posted a picture of a dog out for a walk along a neatly kept sidewalk in a serene neighborhood, with the caption: 'Los Angeles just an absolute warzone, as you can see.' In stark contrast to the photos of Waymo vehicles burning and police cars being pelted with rocks, a video on social media showed a group of protestors line dancing. 'Oh my God! They must be stopped before their peaceful and joy filled dance party spreads to a city near you!' the caption read. 'Please send in the Marines before they start doing the Cha Cha and the Macarena!' And many people noted on social media that Sunday's Pride parade in Hollywood for the LGBTQ+ community went off without incident, as reinforced by multiple videos of dancers and marchers celebrating along a sun-splashed parade route. But other activists and Democrats signaled that they understand how Trump's position can be strengthened if it appears they are condoning the more extreme episodes that emerged along with the protests — police being pelted with bottles, businesses being looted and buildings being defaced with graffiti. On Tuesday, an X post by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reiterated her earlier admonitions: 'Let me be clear: ANYONE who vandalized Downtown or looted stores does not care about our immigrant communities,' the mayor wrote. 'You will be held accountable.' The activist group Occupy Democrats posted a message online urging protesters to show their disdain for the violence and property damage. 'The moment violence of property damage begins, EVERY OTHER PROTESTER must immediately sit on the floor or the ground in silence, with signs down,' the advisory suggested. 'The media needs to film this. This will reveal paid fake thugs posing as protesters becoming violent. ….The rest of us will demonstrate our non-violent innocence and retain our Constitutional right to peaceful protest.' Craig Silverman, a journalist and cofounder of Indicator, a site that investigates deception on digital platforms, said that reporting on the context and true scope of the protests would have a hard time competing with the visceral images broadcast into Americans' homes. 'It's inevitable that the most extreme and compelling imagery will win the battle for attention on social media and on TV,' Silverman said via email. 'It's particularly challenging to deliver context and facts when social platforms incentivize the most shocking videos and claims, federal and state authorities offer contradictory messages about what's happening.' Dan Schnur, who teaches political science at USC and UC Berkeley, agreed. 'The overwhelming majority of the protesters are peaceful,' Schnur said, 'but they don't do stories on all the planes that land safely at LAX, either.' Though it might be too early to assess the ultimate impact of the L.A. unrest, Schnur suggested that all of the most prominent politicians in the drama might have accomplished their messaging goals: Trump motivated his base and diverted attention from his nasty feud with his former top advisor, Elon Musk, and the lack of progress on peace talks with Russia and Ukraine. Newsom 'effectively unified the state and elevated his national profile' by taking on Trump. And Bass, under tough scrutiny for her handling of the city's wildfire disaster, has also gotten a chance to use Trump as a foil. What was not disputed was that Trump's rapid deployment of the National Guard, without the approval of Newsom, had little precedent. And sending the Marines to L.A. was an even more extreme approach, with experts saying challenges to the deployment would test the limits of Trump's power. The federal Insurrection Act allows the deployment of the military for law enforcement purposes, but only under certain conditions, such as a national emergency. California leaders say Trump acted before a true emergency developed, thereby preempting standard protocols, including the institution of curfews and the mobilization of other local police departments in a true emergency. Even real estate developer Rick Caruso, Bass' opponent in the last election, suggested Trump acted too hastily. 'There is no emergency, widespread threat, or out of control violence in Los Angeles,' Caruso wrote on X Sunday. 'And absolutely no danger that justifies deployment of the National Guard, military, or other federal force to the streets of this or any other Southern California City.' 'We must call for calm in the streets,' Caruso added, 'and deployment of the National Guard may prompt just the opposite.'
