Why One Verdict Cannot Erase The Collective Trauma Of A Nation
arrow Damarra Atkins pays respect to George Floyd at a mural at George Floyd Square, in Minneapolis Julio Cortez/AP/Shutterstock
Many people breathed a sigh of relief this week when a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. For some New Yorkers, who had seen the nine-minute and 29-second video of the white police officer with his knee on the neck and back of a Black unarmed citizen, sparking mass protests that lasted throughout the spring and summer, it was a time to celebrate.