Whenever anyone talks about George Floyd, we are immediately reminded that he was a black man unjustly killed by a white policeman and that he is now a symbol of racial justice. The problem is that racism was not even a factor in Floyd’s death — but you won’t ever hear about it.
This past April, the Attorney General for Minnesota, Keith Ellison, declined to pursue a hate crime charge against Derek Chauvin. During a CBS News interview when Ellison was asked on the matter, he stated, “I wouldn’t call it that because hate crimes are crimes where there’s an explicit motive and of bias. We don’t have any evidence that Derek Chauvin factored in George Floyd’s race as he did what he did.” It’s worth it to note that Ellison himself is black. When pressed further by Scott Pelley, Ellison explained “we only charge those crimes that we had evidence that we could put in front of a jury to prove.”
George Floyd’s death was unnecessary and cruel. It was an act of police brutality. It’s unfortunate, therefore, that no one has bothered to take an interest in whether (or not) the Floyd killing had anything to do with racism.