America’s unfinished business
The fury over George Floyd’s killing is erupting as the U.S. faces a wave of bankruptcies, “avalanche of evictions” and pandemic that are all hitting African Americans disproportionately, Axios Markets Editor Dion Rabouin reports.
Why it matters: What these seemingly disparate issues have in common is that they emanate from systemic abuses that calls to action and promised reforms have yet to meaningfully address.
- Consider theextrajudicial killings in the past decade of Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland and numerous other black Americans for which there was no fundamental legal resolution.
- The overwhelming majorityof their killers went free and some retained their jobs in law enforcement.
Likewise, much of the economic fallout we’re seeing because of the coronavirus stems from unresolved issues left over from the 2008 Great Recession.
- After the recession, none of the top executives who had originated, boxed or sold the collateralized debt obligations and improperly rated mortgage-backed securities faced criminal charges.
The root cause of the 2008 crisis — rampant corporate greed — was never sufficiently contained.
- Many of the meager protections created for everyday Americans through the Dodd-Frank financial reform act have since been clawed back by the Trump administration and the Fed.
Between the lines: The swift action from the Federal Reserve and Congress that saved the financial system had the unintended effect of exacerbating the nation’s growing income inequality.
- Last year,the Census Bureau reported the U.S. had its highest level of income inequality ever.
What’s next: The coronavirus pandemic looks to be heading in much the same way.
- A new recessionhas left at least 34 million people on government unemployment assistance and likely millions more without a job — and the difference between the reality for working- and middle-class African Americans and wealthy white Americans is stark.
- The virushas affected black Americans at a much higher rate, largely a result of widespread economic inequality that has kept black folks in less affluent neighborhoods with more people packed into less space.
-Deaths without consequences
Seven years after the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s still rare for police officers to be charged in the deaths of African Americans — and even more rare for an officer to go to jail, Axios’ Ursula Perano writes.
- The big picture:The Minneapolis police officer who was captured on video kneeling on George Floyd’s neck was charged yesterday with third-degree murder and manslaughter — which is already a step beyond the consequences other officers have faced. But it’s no guarantee that he will serve time.
The backstory: The Black Lives Matter movement took off in 2013 when George Zimmerman, a civilian, was acquitted of shooting Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. The case kickstarted the international movement to address the controversial deaths of black people, particularly at the hands of police.
- But since then,the cases have usually ended with either no charges or no jail time for police officers.
Explore how prominent cases ended.
Πηγή: axios.com
