One of these is not like the other.

Guilty and Justice.

These two words have inundated our country's airwaves, conversations, and newspaper front pages over the last two days. Although these two words have been conjoined, an attempt to use one as a descriptor of the outcome of the Derek Chauvin trial, they are at odds with one another. Only one is factual. In truth, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd, but this is NOT justice.

What we have witnessed is accountability rather than justice. Justice would have been Derek Chauvin showing essential regard and respect for George Floyd's life and treating him as a fellow human. Justice would've been empathy or compassion in the acts of the accompanying officers respecting their duties to PROTECT and SERVE. Justice would be a system that holds all accountable equally based on the law without regard for race, socioeconomic status, or zip code.

I would posit that the system failed George Floyd AND Derek Chauvin. Long before May 25, 2020. Nearly a year ago, I reflected on the overwhelming anxiety and frustration that consumed me after watching the events on May 25th unfold on video and how that sadness was a weight I could no longer bear without crying. Yesterday, April 20, 2021, I watched as people were exuberant and celebrating in the streets at the trial's conclusion that produced a guilty verdict. Every channel showed a myriad of smiling faces, but I couldn't be joyous. Although happy for the Floyd family that they had received a measure of accountability for losing their family member, I couldn't shake the empathy my heart shared for Derek Chauvin as I watched his eyes dart back and forth at the verdict's reading.

Before you hurtle a thousand side-eyes my way, the empathy wasn't due to feeling sorry for him suffering the consequences of his action, but more so wondering where his life had gone wrong to bring him to this point. When was his humanity scarred to the point of uncaring and created a cavalier nature regarding the sanctity of human life? So I couldn't be joyous at his downfall, but I was reflective about the environment that could make someone unfeeling.  

I surmised earlier that the system failed both George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. Numerous accounts are available on how the system failed George Floyd and other ethnic minorities throughout the history of our country. The oppressive weight of a broken system hanging like a yoke on the necks of people of color. But I want to focus a second on Derek Chauvin. I believe the system failed him in the lack of accountability for his previous acts of over-policing and excessive force complaints. Had he faced actual consequences for prior immoral actions, would he have changed his tactics? Would he have taken a second thought, assessed the situation, and heard the desperate gasps of a man fighting to breathe and not disregarded them as the cries of just another suspect trying to wriggle free from arrest? It's a question without an answer, but it gives me pause nonetheless.

As much as many may want to qualify, this isn't a case that occurred in a vacuum. There IS a systemic issue running rampant in the justice system of our country. The system is ravenous and devours victims at a rapid pace. It has created boogeymen on both ends of the spectrum, both real and imagined. It has removed humanity as a standard for viewing others and has replaced it with stereotypes, innuendo, implicit and explicit biases, microaggressions, and disgust. It has made combative interactions normative.

Although this particular case has brought us to an inflection point, it has not provided us with justice. It's only left us with more questions. Will this be the point where our "justice" system pivots to become reflective of its name. More importantly, will this be an instigation of change for YOU?! How will you preserve your humanity and seek to be the change you want to see. Systemic change will not come all at once, surging forth like the water from an open fire hydrant but will come from the slow trickle of intentional relationships. I imagine that the interaction between George Floyd and Derek Chauvin may have played out much differently if Derek Chauvin had intimate friendships with men who looked like George Floyd. Relationships are where uncomfortable conversations have a safe space to take place.  

It's easier to have an uncomfortable conversation than to live an uncomfortable existence.

The system that currently operates in our country has created an uncomfortable existence for people of color for time immemorial and has perpetuated 'otherism' as a way of life. Let us not grow complacent with the outcome of this trial and hold it up as a capstone in the fight for equality. Instead, let's seek true justice every day in every interaction, using this as an inflection point in a long journey we are all travelers on.

Allow reverence for humanity and common decency to lead us forward into a future where justice will signify equal treatment and not conflated with accountability. Lead with relationships - with others who don't look like you, think like you, or share the same experiences and see the world through a different lens.

Compassion and empathy are free and freeing. You have to open your eyes...and see.