The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic changed the criminal justice system overnight. Now, the George Floyd protests are changing things even more. People are taking matters into their own hands, and cities and states are scrambling to make changes before the anger boils over.
Confederate monuments have become one of the main targets of the George Floyd protests around the nation. These monuments, which many were trying to get removed after a deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, are now finally seeing their final moments.
Across the nation, protesters have descended upon the hundreds of standing Confederate monuments that still mar this country.
And they’re done asking nicely: they’ve torn them down and vandalized them in righteous anger! Now, cities are doing what they said they couldn’t.
Birmingham, for instance, quickly took down its monument after protesters attacked it, and is now facing a lawsuit from the state. In Virginia, the Daughters of the Confederacy headquarters were set on fire too, and its monuments are also coming down.
Black protest always makes a difference. It’s unfortunate that things had to get to this point for people to make progress on the issue - it’s not like people didn’t ask and try to go about things the official way first.
However, it’s just another example of when politics don't work, uprisings seem to do the job.