Category: Racism

April 5, 2021

Calling Chauvin a “Bad Apple” Denies Systemic Nature of Racist Police Violence

As the murder trial of Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd proceeds, the prosecution will try to portray the defendant as a “bad apple.” In his opening statement, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell alerted the jurors that they would hear police officials testify Chauvin used excessive force in violation of departmental policy to apply restraints only as necessary… Read more »

January 27, 2021

George Floyd “Narrated His Death,” Says Attorney at International Inquiry

George Floyd, who was publicly tortured and lynched by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, narrated his own death, legendary civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump told the International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Violence Against People of African Descent in the United States at its January 25 hearing. “He narrated his death,… Read more »

December 30, 2020

Civil Rights Groups Fight Back Against Georgia’s Voter Purges

The importance of the January 5 Senate runoff elections in Georgia cannot be overestimated. They will determine which party controls the Senate, with vast ramifications for economic policy, climate change, workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights, judicial nominees, and much more. The purging of nearly 200,000 registered voters from the voting rolls in Georgia could spell the… Read more »

December 24, 2020

After Trump Blocked UN Inquiry of Racist Violence, NGOs Are Conducting Their Own

Shortly after the public lynching of George Floyd, the U.S. Human Rights Network and the ACLU organized an international coalition of more than 600 organizations and individuals to urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to convene a commission of inquiry to investigate systemic racism and police brutality in the United States. George Floyd’s brother,… Read more »

October 17, 2020

Barrett Is Poised to Become the Most Radical Right-Wing Member of Supreme Court

During her Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Amy Coney Barrett refused to say that voter intimidation is illegal, that armed poll watchers are intimidating, that voter discrimination exists, whether the president could deny someone the right to vote based on race or that Congress has a constitutional duty to protect the… Read more »

September 2, 2020

If Trump Tries to Hijack the Election, We Must Be Ready to Resist

For nearly four years, we have been laser focused on November 3, 2020, the day that Donald Trump could be voted out of office. In all likelihood, however, the election will not be decided that evening as it has in the past (with the notable exception of the 2000 election). That is because in order to… Read more »

July 26, 2020

Black Lives Matter Chicago Sues to Prevent Occupation by Trump’s Paramilitaries

Taking a page from Hitler’s Brownshirts, Donald Trump is sending his secret paramilitary forces into U.S. cities to terrorize the population. Ostensibly designed to “restore order” in the wake of massive uprisings against white supremacy and police brutality, this move appears to have a more cynical purpose lurking behind it: Trump’s desire to tar Democrat-led cities… Read more »

July 5, 2020

Protesters Attacked by Police Are Suing to Vindicate Their Constitutional Rights

Protesters demonstrating against white supremacy and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s public lynching have been met with illegal repression by law enforcement. Police have utilized toxic chemical and sonic weapons, dangerous projectiles, intrusive surveillance, physical violence and “kettling” to trap demonstrators after dispersal orders are given. In a study conducted by the University of Chicago Law School’s International… Read more »