Latest news with #racialinequality
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Minneapolis isn't sorry about George Floyd
I wish it was different. I wish that, five years after former Minneapolis Police officer Derick Chauvin murdered George Floyd on Memorial Day in 2020, the city could point to many, many things that have changed as a result of the outcry. I wish, five years after a global uprising and protest that started here, that Minneapolis was a different city, with better policing, better public safety, and in a better place on the city's long-standing racial inequality. I wish we could say that Minneapolis was sorry about George Floyd's murder and that we worked quickly—and then consistently continued to work—to address the systemic problems of policing and race, of neighborhood gaps in development and opportunities, of media narratives that whitewash many of those problems. I wish we could say the city rose to the moment, changed things, and became a leading example of how to address police violence for the rest of the country. But Minneapolis hasn't changed, and Minneapolis isn't sorry. Is the city different five years later? Absolutely. But not when it comes to the liberal underpinnings that defined, and in many ways still do define, Minnesota as 'The Jim Crow of the North.' And certainly not enough to prove that anything has changed. In different ways, residents of Minneapolis put in work after the civil unrest. There was a very brief time, immediately after the protests and violent police response, when vibrant murals decorated the boards covering destroyed buildings, neighbors connected for new attempts at mutual aid networks, and flowers and tributes filled the now historic site at Chicago & 38th. Even the most cynical people in Minneapolis tried to look at the potential future for the city where George Floyd was murdered, and everyone from state and national politics, to news media, to hometown corporations jumped to make new pledges to do better for Black and other marginalized residents. But like many rebellions in fiction and reality, the empire swiftly struck back at attempts for change, and much of the city fell in line. People working towards change quickly saw that white fragility's fury and retribution are as systemic as they are individualistic. Minneapolis leadership and their backers immediately did their own work to support the police department, while many officers coordinated en masse to retire with claims of PTSD—or 'medical' as they sometimes code to astounding 144 MPD officers were given settlements totaling over $22.2 million, even officers with previous records of misconduct. These same leaders used different parts of city bureaucracy, like the Minneapolis Charter Commission, to entangle the process of police reform, and they also used large sums of money to fund a local Political Action Committee that spread disinformation about the reform. 'Defund the Police,' they argued, somehow meant the metro would descend into lawlessness overnight. It's no wonder that national conservative groups have continued to amplify and expand the fear-mongering message, and it's no wonder that, years after the civil unrest, many still claim that Minneapolis defunded the police, despite the MPD budget for 2025 being double that of 2014. By the time the next city election took place in 2021, the political push not only meant that the police department didn't change, but the mayor in office didn't change, and Minneapolis voted to pass a city amendment that the city council who called for reforms would have less authority, too. Four years later, the same PAC still remains a big driver of local politics and elections. Even more, the revelations of the MPD's years of egregious behavior, inarguably revealed in a federal Department of Justice report and a state Department of Human Rights report which lead to two separate consent decrees to try and force sweeping changes (that is until President Trump rescinded the federal decree this week, leaving the state decree), have proven to hold enough importance to be anything but occasional talking points for local politics through the past few years. Case in point: City Council candidate Soren Stevenson was shot in the face by a non-lethal round when police escalated violence during the protests; Stevenson lost an eye as a result, and the officer who shot him was never disciplined and is still on the force. Many of the corporations that made swift commitments for new hires and funding for BIPOC causes used the opportunity to simply reallocate some existing funding for arts and culture organizations and events. These same businesses are now using their DEI rollbacks to eliminate most of their corporate giving entirely. Many people have pointed out the fact that Target commissioned murals featuring power fists on their Lake Street location, which was looted during the riots, that starkly contrast with the company's public rollback of its DEI initiatives. The regional news media, themselves targets of some uprising protests, made some long-overdue diversity hires and briefly wondered aloud if they should take everything that the police force says as unquestionable facts—reporters did, after all, originally take the MPD's report that Floyd's death was simply a 'medical incident' and moved on from the story until the video began to spread across social media—have since been a staunch ally in the routing of meaningful reform, with skewed both-sides coverage and commentary. Their ramp-up of stories and angles for the anniversary of Floyd's murder highlights the sensational nature of their current coverage and the lack of change in day-to-day reporting. The former police chief just last week made the rounds of local news to push his new book, unironically entitled 'Securing Justice for the Murder of George Floyd,' with little pushback. The current police chief now routinely receives similar coverage without pushback, even going so far as to say, without rebuke in a recent press event, that police are the ones who are 'starting to heal, it's been a long five years.' My kids were really little when the ash from the burned-down Minneapolis Police Third Precinct floated into our yard down the street. They've now doubled in age, but while they've changed over and over, year after year, the city around them hasn't. I wish we could point to a reformed police force, but the only significant changes in Minneapolis policing are that the number of employed officers is at a record low, that more and more people (not just BIPOC residents) are sharing stories of officers with chips on their shoulders, and that the city is still returning to earlier lower levels of crime. I wish we could point to a new robust corner of Minnehaha and Lake Street where the condemned Third Precinct still blights the corner, but we can't. Barricades still remain, even though a new wrap was just put up on the chain link fence. I wish we could point to George Floyd Square as both a place of commemoration of what happened and the history, but also as a place to show the city's change in direction. But we can't. Community members are the only ones who have been stewarding the historic site of George Floyd Square, a grassroots site that regularly receives visitors from all over the country who make the pilgrimage to see another ground zero in the push for—and against—modern civil rights. It's one thing to say sorry. It's another thing to be sorry and move forward with changes. And Minneapolis has done neither.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Todd Chrisley admits he got special treatment in prison over Black inmates: 'We know why I wasn't denied that'
Todd Chrisley is speaking out about the injustices he says he witnessed while incarcerated. The former Chrisley Knows Best star, who was released from prison on Wednesday following a pardon from President Trump, discussed his experience at Pensacola Federal Prison Camp during a press conference on Friday. "I have met some wonderful men. I have listened to some horrific stories about things that have gone on in our system," Chrisley said. "I will continue to fight for all of the guys that I dealt with and that I was blessed to be with at FPC Pensacola. I will continue to expose the injustices that go on there and throughout the Bureau of Prisons." Chrisley went on to claim that the alleged injustices he witnessed were racially motivated. "Being in the prison system, anyone that says that it's a fair shake — it's not," he said. "Because I dealt with young African-American males in the prison that I was in that were not treated the same." The reality star implied that he was afforded better treatment than Black inmates due to white privilege. "They were denied programming. They were denied access to certain things," he said. "I was not denied that, but we know why I wasn't denied that. And so I think that that is a much bigger picture that we all as a society as a whole need to look at: that we are one." A representative for Pensacola Federal Prison Camp did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment. Chrisley's daughter, Savannah, also appeared at the press conference and said that her family members would dedicate themselves to fighting for prison reform. "We're gonna be in D.C., and Mom and Dad are now along for the ride, because we're not leaving those men and women behind," she said. "There's too much work that needs to be done. There's too much reform that needs to be done." Todd Chrisley and his wife, Julie, were indicted in 2019 for bank fraud and tax evasion, and were eventually convicted in 2022 and sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison. They have maintained their innocence during and after their conviction. At the press conference, Chrisley suggested that his conviction was an example of the flaws in the justice system. "Even though this pardon has happened, I still was convicted of something that I did not do," he claimed. "It could be you. It could be any of you. And somewhere in this room, someone has had a family member who has been affected by this system. I understand the shame that's around it, but I refuse to feed into that because shame is like a cancer that just spreads, and I have no shame."The Chrisleys are set to return to the small screen in an untitled Lifetime reality series, which Savannah said had wrapped filming prior to the pardon but resumed once her parents were freed. While Todd's son, Chase Chrisley, said that he wasn't sure if his parents would want to be involved in future TV endeavors, the family's patriarch implied that he and Julie would appear on a new show in some capacity at the press conference. "We're blessed to have our family back, and we're blessed to be coming back to television, because we do have a much bigger story to tell than we ever have," Todd Chrisley said. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
CBS News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revisits his long history of activism and using his voice: "Certain things needed to be said"
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shares how activism shaped his legacy on and off the court Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a basketball legend with six NBA championships over his 20-year career. But the six-time MVP has bigger concerns than basketball. Off the court, Abdul-Jabbar's spent his life advocating for social justice. "Freedom, justice and equality are for all of us – not just for some. So we can't give up," Abdul-Jabbar told "CBS Mornings." A passion for activism In his new book, "We All Want to Change the World," Abdul-Jabbar delves into decades of fighting for racial equality in the U.S. and explains how protest movements shaped him. He describes how civil rights icons and prominent symbols of the civil rights movement – like Rosa Parks, Emmett Till and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – ignited his passion for activism. "When the switch was thrown and the lightning coursed through me, it not only fused all those parts in one walking giant representation of Black history, but it also energized me to continue the fight," Abdul-Jabbar read from his book. He's been pushing for social justice for the past six decades, starting during his collegiate years at UCLA while leading the Bruins to three straight NCAA championships. "I remember after Dr. King was assassinated, I was demonstrating on a campus and, more than one person stopped to say, 'What are you demonstrating about? You're gonna be playing in the NBA, what's the issue?' I was just appalled at his ignorance," Abdul-Jabbar recalled. Abdul-Jabbar wasn't concerned about any consequences of using his voice. "Certain things needed to be said, and I decided that I would say them," Abdul-Jabbar said. Taking action He followed up his words with actions. In 1968, Abdul-Jabbar made headlines for boycotting the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. His decision was influenced by the Cleveland Summit, known as the "Ali Summit," where he and other prominent Black athletes supported heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali's refusal to fight in the Vietnam war. He was stripped of his heavyweight title and convicted of draft evasion, which was later overturned. "Muhammad Ali was a friend of mine, somebody I had a lot of respect for, for his courage and his talent as an athlete," Abdul-Jabbar said. He saw what happened when Ali returned from Rome to his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, with an Olympic gold medal in 1960. Instead of getting praise, he was met with racial discrimination – and denied service at a segregated restaurant. "He goes and represents the U.S. in Rome and is outstanding, but he can't buy a sandwich. They said it wasn't anything personal but he couldn't get served," Abdul-Jabbar recalled. That indignity inspired him to become an activist, pushing for equal opportunities. But it also put a target on his back. Abdul-Jabbar says he's been getting threatening messages – even death threats – since he was 17 years old. "It's like I'm a lightning rod, at times," Abdul-Jabbar said. These days, he's an outspoken critic of President Trump and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. "We're going to have a lot of work to do whenever the nation comes to its senses. I'm sure of that," Abdul-Jabbar said. Abdul-Jabbar's 20th book, "We All Want to Change the World," is on sale now.
