“You mean Black Lives Matter this summer?”

“Yeah.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the glow of the sheriff’s taillights in hers. “Do you think we did anything?” she asked again, flatly, “or will it always be white men with guns kneeling on the necks of someone?”

“It’s better than it used to be,” I responded lamely, because I didn’t know what else to say. Because I wanted her to have hope.

Rumor has it that until the Reagan era this county had actual signs posted warning Black folk to get out of town before dark. “The Colony” was the name for the all-Black town nearby the very spot where we are driving that housed Black laborers, many of whom traveled daily to their service jobs in the all-white town of Cullman in groups for protection.[3] That sort of “improvement,” though—the fact that there aren’t explicit “sundown towns” anymore—does that really count as the kinds of substantial progress on racial justice that we were marching for this summer?

Her question made me wonder what has been happening now that BLM no longer occupies headlines. Historically, most steps toward equal justice for African Americans in the United States have been met with what historian Carol Anderson calls “white rage.” It’s similar to what scholars of European history call the “Thermidorian Reaction”—a conservative retrenchment usually accompanied by violence. More than a half-year after protests swelled up from coast-to-coast, what has happened?

The first steps this year were encouraging. The House of Representatives passed the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020” by a 236–181 margin in June.[4] Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI) introduced a bill to end the three shields of “qualified immunity,” the judicial policy that keeps police from being held personally liable even if they violate constitutional rights: “(1) the defendant was acting in good faith or believed that his or her conduct was lawful at the time it was committed; (2) the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws were not clearly established at the time of their deprivation; or (3) the state of the law was such that the defendant could not reasonably have been expected to know whether his or her conduct was lawful.”[5] These three provisions have been used repeatedly to protect cops who use excessive force, even if they kill members of the public without justification.[6]

Numerous states also instituted new laws and procedures around police conduct through 2020.[7] California, New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Jersey limited or banned chokeholds entirely.[8] A handful of large cities including Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, prohibited the use of tear gas and other “less lethals” by police.[9] Others instituted reforms like citizen advisory boards, qualified immunity adjustments, and forcing body cameras on all units.[10] Dozens of smaller municipalities, usually with significant populations of racial minorities, made adjustments to policing as well.[11] Earlier this month, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed “Breonna’s Law” banning no-knock police warrants. Police gunned down EMT Breonna Taylor in her own Louisville, Kentucky home by mistake nine months ago. Only Florida and Oregon have enacted similar laws. Kentucky itself remains silent.[12]

And that, unfortunately, is the broader pattern.[13] Inaction. Status quo, even after the largest mass protests in American history; even after broad public support for police reform.[14] … The Amash-sponsored qualified immunity bill faded away without so much as a debate. Even “liberal” California skipped on its most common-sense reforms after activists drifted away from the civic process. The spirit for actually legislating apparently felt too laborious compared to being on the streets signaling virtue by shouting and holding signs. Police unions, however, never gave up.[15] From this end-of-year vantage point, it appears that the sound and fury in the name of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rashard Brooks—and almost 100 others just this year—has signified close to nothing.[16]

Actually, not nothing. True to historical tendency in the United States, there has been backlash from the white and the powerful. Cities in the middle of the country are unveiling anti-protesting ordinances making crimes more severe for protesting against police misconduct. …

Dr. King warned that the opposite of hope was apathy. That to give up hope was to give up on racial justice. I want my daughter to have hope, mostly because it’s so easy to be white and apathetic. Just keep doing something, I want to say to her. I’m just not sure what.

Notes

[1] https://youtu.be/cKokJp84tps

[2] Drew Taylor, “‘Lovecraft Country’ and the Dark History of Alabama’s ‘Sundown Towns,’” CBS 42 (blog), August 30, 2020, https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/lovecraft-country-and-the-dark-history-of-alabamas-sundown-towns/.

[3] Cullman Today, Colony Alabama History with Earlene Johnson, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLY0wFoW6uQ; Sharon Schuler Kreps, “A Brief History of Colony, Alabama,” The Cullman Tribune (blog), April 7, 2015, https://www.cullmantribune.com/2015/04/07/a-brief-history-of-colony-alabama/.

[4] Catie Edmondson, “House Passes Sweeping Policing Bill Targeting Racial Bias and Use of Force,” The New York Times, June 26, 2020, sec. U.S., https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/us/politics/house-police-overhaul-bill.html.

[5] Justin Amash, “Cosponsors – H.R.7085 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): Ending Qualified Immunity Act,” Congress.gov, June 4, 2020, 2019/2020, https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7085/cosponsors.

[6] Nina Totenberg, “Supreme Court Weighs Qualified Immunity For Police Accused Of Misconduct,” NPR.org, June 8, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/06/08/870165744/supreme-court-weighs-qualified-immunity-for-police-accused-of-misconduct; Rew Chung et al., “For Cops Who Kill, Special Supreme Court Protection,” Reuters, May 8, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-police-immunity-scotus/.

[7] Orion Rummler, “The Major Police Reforms Enacted since George Floyd’s Death,” Axios, October 1, 2020, https://www.axios.com/police-reform-george-floyd-protest-2150b2dd-a6dc-4a0c-a1fb-62c2e999a03a.html.

[8] Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Jeffery C. Mays, and Ashley Southall, “Defying Police Unions, New York Lawmakers Ban Chokeholds,” The New York Times, June 8, 2020, sec. New York, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/nyregion/floyd-protests-police-reform.html; T. C. R. Staff, “California Bans Chokeholds, Shuts Juvenile Halls in New Reform Package,” The Crime Report, October 1, 2020, https://thecrimereport.org/2020/10/01/california-bans-chokeholds-shuts-juvenile-halls-in-new-reform-package/.

[9] Daniel Beekman, “Seattle City Council Bans Police Use of Tear Gas and Chokeholds as Protests for Black Lives Continue,” The Seattle Times, June 15, 2020, https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-city-council-bans-police-use-of-tear-gas-and-chokeholds-as-protests-for-black-lives-continue/; Julie Zauzmer and Fenit Nirappil, “D.C. Toughens Officer Hiring and Discipline, as Wave of Police Reform Sweeps the U.S.,” Washington Post, June 9, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-council-police-reform/2020/06/09/c77ae6b0-aa49-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html.

[10] Michael D’Onofrio, “Philly City Council Passes Police Reforms, Shelves Others for the Summer,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star (blog), June 26, 2020, https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/philly-city-council-passes-police-reforms-shelves-others-for-the-summer/.

[11] James Benedetto, “Tuscaloosa Bans Biased Policing, Use of Chokeholds,” Tuscaloosa Thread, September 29, 2020, https://tuscaloosathread.com/tuscaloosa-bans-biased-policing-use-of-chokeholds/; Karina Zaiets, Janie Haseman, and Jennifer Borresen, “Cities and States across the US Announce Police Reform Following Demands for Change,” June 19, 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/06/18/2020-protests-impact-city-and-state-changes-policing/5337751002/.

[12] Bill Atkinson, “Breonna Taylor’s Aunt Tells Virginia Bill-Signing Ceremony Her Niece ‘Still Needs Justice,’” Progress-Index, December 7, 2020, https://www.progress-index.com/story/news/2020/12/07/virginia-ceremoniously-signs-breonnas-law-into-existence/3857957001/.

[13] Nolan D. McCaskill, “Police Reforms Stall around the Country, despite New Wave of Activism,” POLITICO, September 23, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/23/breonna-taylor-police-reforms-420799.

[14] Steve Crabtree, “Most Americans Say Policing Needs ‘Major Changes,’” Gallup.com, July 22, 2020, https://news.gallup.com/poll/315962/americans-say-policing-needs-major-changes.aspx.

[15] Laurel Rosenhall, “California Lawmakers Failed to Enact Sweeping Police Reforms. Here’s Why.,” CalMatters, September 2, 2020, https://calmatters.org/justice/2020/09/california-lawmakers-failed-to-enact-police-reform/.

[16] NewsOne Staff, “97 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police,” NewsOne (blog), December 13, 2020, https://newsone.com/playlist/black-men-boy-who-were-killed-by-police/.