The Problem is Not One Officer...

By Sabrina Salvati (Host of Sabby Sabs Podcast)

Am I shocked that Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts? Yes. Am I happy he was found guilty? Absolutely. Am I ready to dance and celebrate in the streets? No, and you shouldn’t either. Because the problem is not one officer.

Derek Chauvin was the exception. His conviction doesn’t make up for all the other black people that have been killed by the police. His conviction doesn’t make up for Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Oscar Grant…the list goes on. While everyone was celebrating his guilty verdict, a 15 year old girl was killed by Columbus, Ohio police, after she called them for help; because a group of girls tried to jump her. Again, she called the police for their protection, and they killed her…in her own yard! The problem is not one officer.

To hear Nancy Pelosi basically thank George Floyd for dying and pretending like she actually cares about black people, was utterly disgusting. To hear mainstream media commentators refer to this verdict as if it has cured racism in policing, was horrendous. The problem is not one officer.

The problem is the system. It’s the same system in which President Joe Biden co-wrote the crime bill, that imprisoned black men to maximum sentencing for marijuana. It’s the same system that allowed Kamala Harris to target black families in California for truancy and like Joe…also marijuana. And yet both Joe and Kamala stood in front of Americans today, after the verdict and talked about fairness and justice for black people…the audacity!

I used to be one of those people that thought police reform could work…but it hasn’t worked, it’s not currently working and I don’t see it working in the future. The lack of accountability for police officers has always been an issue in this country. As police funding increases, they become more militarized and more violent.

I’m tired of waiting on reforms.

At this point, we need to defund the police and put that money back into black and brown communities.

The problem is not one officer. The problem is the system.