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Derek Chauvin Trial: 18-Year-Old Black ‘Anonymous’ Witness Spoke for All Black People

Herbert Dyer, Jr.
3 min readMar 30, 2021

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Image: Darnella+and+George+floyd+pictures

There has always been a nagging discrepancy between the promise and the reality of white maleness [or male whiteness]. White men have often had the sneaking suspicion that the American dream is a fiction.

At the same time, white men have always feared the potential of losing that one great superiority — the better than. If all you have is better than — better than women, better than people of color, no more and no less than that — why would you willingly give up the one prize you never had to earn?

— Ijeoma Oluo, Mediocre — The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, 2020

Today is Day Two of and marks a monumental inflection point in the trial of fired Minneapolis killer-cop Derek Chauvin. Chauvin, along with three other Minneapolis cops who aided and abetted him, were all fired and finally charged. Beginning with Chauvin, they are now being tried one at a time for the choking death of George Floyd on Memorial Day, May 25th, of last year.

During opening statements on Day One, both the phalanx of state prosecutors and killer-cop Chauvin’s lone defense attorney assured us all that the killing of George Floyd — and therefore this case — “had nothing to do with race.”

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Herbert Dyer, Jr.
Herbert Dyer, Jr.

Written by Herbert Dyer, Jr.

Freelancer since the earth first began cooling. My beat, justice: racial, social, political, economic and cultural. I’m on FB, Twitter, Link, hdyerjr@gmail.com.

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