22-05-2025
Backlash: The Murder of George Floyd review — did Black Lives Matter fail?
It is five years since an American police officer killed George Floyd in plain sight, crushing the life out of him with his knee for nine minutes and 29 seconds as the world heard his dying words 'I can't breathe'.
To call what has happened since 'eventful' would be quite the understatement. The outrage sparked an international insurgence demanding equal rights for black people and an end to institutional racism. Black Lives Matter marches were staged, statues of slave traders were toppled, footballers took the knee, and it seemed that something had permanently shifted especially when that police officer, Derek Chauvin, was jailed for 22 years.
But a backlash was waiting. 'What the hell happened?' asked Nekima Levy Armstrong, a US lawyer and social justice
