Yet another unarmed Black man was killed this week at the hands of police, this time in Minneapolis. George Floyd was 46 years old.
His death sparked pockets of protests throughout the country on Wednesday, after disturbing footage of the incident was made public. The four police officers involved have since been fired, but calls demanding a formal murder investigation into the matter remain steady.
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Speaking on the grief and outrage perpetuated by Floyd’s death was former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral, called in to Boston Public Radio on Thursday.
Cabral began by rejecting the notion that Americans ought to find hope in the fact that the four officers were fired.
"The idea that we’re at such a low point in terms of the inaction that follows, and the failures that follow the persistent murder of unarmed black people, that we should take hope from something as simple as a termination tells you exactly where we are,” she said.
She also expressed doubt that the immediate public outrage would be enough to affect systemic change.
"We say the same thing every time,” she said. "‘Isn’t it a good sign that such and such happened? Shouldn’t we take heart from...’ and the reason I’m saying no we should not, is because that’s always as far as it goes."
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To the question of what actually needs to change to prevent future needless death, Cabral was blunt.
"In my view, white people start demanding better of other white people,” she said.
Speaking of Black communities, Cabral said "we’re consistently taught to live on hope, and we’re also consistently prevailed upon to convince people of a fact that this has existed for centuries. Why do we have to convince white people that this is systemic, deadly racism?"
