On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, igniting a global uprising against racism, police brutality, and systemic injustice. Millions took to the streets across the U.S. and around the world, demanding accountability not just for Floyd’s death but for the countless lives lost and disrupted by state violence.
In the aftermath, some progress was made. Yet, much remains unchanged — reflecting a familiar pattern in American history where gains for Black communities are often met with resistance, retrenchment, or symbolic gestures that fail to address the root causes of injustice.
To understand the moment we’re in, we must place it in a historical context. The post-Floyd era mirrors earlier chapters in the Black freedom struggle, where periods of advancement were swiftly followed by backlash, co-optation, or systemic reversal.
Here’s what has changed:
Legal and policy reforms (limited but meaningful):
Several states and cities enacted reforms aimed at curbing police abuse. More than 20 states passed laws restricting deadly force tactics, including bans on chokeholds and neck restraints. Use of body-worn cameras expanded, as did public access to police disciplinary records. In Minnesota, legislation limited no-knock warrants following the killing of Amir Locke by Minneapolis police.
At the federal level, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — which would ban chokeholds, end qualified immunity, and establish a national police misconduct registry — passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
Cultural and institutional shifts:
Major corporations and institutions launched DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives, implemented anti-bias training, and pledged commitments to racial equity. Confederate monuments came down in multiple cities. Books on anti-racism and Black history surged in popularity, and public discourse embraced previously marginalized concepts such as systemic racism and white supremacy.
Prosecution of police officers:
The 2021 conviction of Derek Chauvin marked a rare instance of police accountability. Other officers involved in Floyd’s murder were also convicted or accepted plea deals. Beyond Minnesota, officers were convicted in cases such as the killing of Daunte Wright (Kim Potter) and the torture of Black residents in Mississippi — outcomes once seen as unthinkable.
Reparations and historical reckoning:
Saint Paul, Minnesota established a permanent Reparations Commission, joining a small but growing list of cities confronting the legacy of slavery. Over 100 initiatives nationwide, including those led by faith institutions and universities, have begun to reckon with their roles in racial injustice.
Here’s what has not changed:
Police violence persists:
Despite reforms, U.S. law enforcement continues to kill approximately 1,000 people per year — disproportionately Black. The deaths of Sonya Massey, Ricky Cobb, Tyre Nichols, and others serve as tragic reminders that George Floyd’s murder was not an aberration.
Structural inequality endures:
Black Americans continue to face stark disparities in wealth, housing, education, health care, and incarceration. In Minnesota, where Floyd was killed, the racial wealth gap remains among the worst in the nation. Despite calls to “defund the police,” many cities have maintained or increased police budgets — even as crime rates hit historic lows.
Backlash and retrenchment:
As with the post-Reconstruction period, gains have been followed by a conservative backlash. Over 20 states have passed laws banning the teaching of “divisive concepts,” including critical race theory. Voting rights have been rolled back in ways that disproportionately impact marginalized communities. DEI programs are being quietly dismantled, and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act remains stalled amid political division.
Historical parallels: cycles of progress and resistance
Reconstruction (1863–1877):
The abolition of slavery ushered in a period of hope. Black Americans gained freedom, voting rights, and representation. But Reconstruction was short-lived. When federal troops withdrew in 1877, white supremacist regimes reasserted control, ushering in Jim Crow segregation, lynchings, and racial terror.
The Missouri Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Act:
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 offered a temporary political solution to the question of slavery. But its reversal through laws like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 — forcing free states to aid in the capture of enslaved people — revealed the fragility of compromise without justice.
The Civil Rights Era (1950s–1970s):
Landmark victories such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were undermined in subsequent decades by policies like mass incarceration and the War on Drugs. What began as a push for freedom morphed into new forms of systemic control.
Incomplete justice, enduring hope
George Floyd’s murder briefly cracked open a window of possibility—one where mass mobilization brought systemic issues to the forefront. And while that window may be narrowing, the movement it catalyzed lives on.
History teaches us that progress is not linear. Gains must be protected and expanded through sustained organizing, political will, and cultural transformation. This generation — the youth who led the global reckoning on race — understand that. They are informed, connected, and unwilling to accept another cycle of symbolic reform followed by silent retrenchment.
Justice remains incomplete, but the future is not fixed. The memory of George Floyd, and the movement born in his name, demands that we keep pushing.
Trahern Crews is the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota. For more information, visit www.blacklivesmattermn.com.