By Eric Lutz
Last summer, in the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, Americans’ support for Black Lives Matter surged, with polls at the time suggesting a majority in the country backed the movement and agreed with its central tenets. But as the summer wore on, with heated protests and a relentless propaganda campaign by Donald Trump and his allies, that support waned, and by the fall had plummeted to its lowest level in about two years.
Poll Stats:Six in 10 Americans say the country should do more to hold police accountable for mistreatment of Black people, far outpacing concerns about those measures interfering with how law enforcement does its job, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The drop, of course, said less about Black Lives Matter and more about the short attention span of most Americans—particularly those who stand to benefit from the unequal systems of privilege the movement is fighting against. But it was also a reminder of how seismic cultural events can shake the fault lines of public opinion, even temporarily. It shouldn’t take Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of a Black man for nearly ten minutes to open white Americans’ eyes to the realities of racism. But the horror of that video seemed to do just that, and for a time appeared to carry real momentum.
The trial and verdict in the Chauvin case—guilty on all three counts of murder and manslaughter—may mark a similarly catalyzing event. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll published Friday, a majority of Americans now support greater scrutiny of police and believe the government should do more to ensure they are held accountable for the mistreatment of Black people. The survey, conducted in the days leading up to and immediately after Chauvin’s conviction, found that respondents’ concerns about racial inequality in law enforcement and criminal justice were slightly lower than in the aftermath of Floyd’s murder last year—and that views on race and criminal justice still split hard along partisan lines. But it also found that 60% of Americans want more scrutiny of police, compared to just 33% who believe there is already too much interference, and that nearly half believe Joe Biden needs to do more on the issue.
In short: White Americans, particularly Republicans, remain less likely than people of color to support police accountability and reform, but for now at least, public opinion appears to be on the side of change. That could mean Biden and the Democrats have a window of opportunity to act. The president has pressed for reforms to address institutional racism and inequality in the criminal justice system, including renewing calls on the Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. “We can’t turn away,” Biden said in an address after the Chauvin verdict. “We have a chance to begin to change the trajectory in this country.”
One lesson from last summer, though, is that that chance may not last forever, particularly as the Chauvin case fades from the headlines. Republicans on Capitol Hill are road blocks, particularly of the more ambitious proposals that many activists and progressives support. But with a majority showing an appetite for change, Democrats may have an opportunity to harness public opinion for good—if they act now.
SOURCE: Vanity Fair
