About Damn Time

Well, this is good news. The charge against Derek Chauvin has been bumped up from 3rd degree murder (which is basically manslaughter) to second degree, and the other three officers have been charged with aiding and abetting.
Will it be enough to curb the protests? I don’t know. If they had done it a week ago, it probably would have. Maybe it still will. There’s a fatigue factor to demonstrating, and there’s only so long the public attention will remain riveted on one issue.
But, I don’t know if it will. The demonstrations/riots (depends on who you ask, and when, and where) have already grown to a point where they are no longer just about George Floyd. They are about all the other black people who’ve been murdered by police. They are about Ahmed Aubry and Filando Castile and Eric Garner and Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice and John Crawford and so, so many more.
And they have spread to cities across the U.S. and abroad. Abroad. The U.S. is now the country that people are protesting against because of our repression of our own citizens. The U.S. is like South Africa under apartheid.
Will this new development ease tensions a bit, make a truce possible? I hope so.
One thing’s for sure, though. They wouldn’t have upped the charges without the demonstrations. So, this is a win.