Are We There Yet?

As all four officers involved in the George Floyd killing have now been charged, the Schloss-Blog is wondering ... are we there yet?

Was this the tipping point?

Was this where we as a nation stood up and said, "Enough?" Was this where the nationwide protests finally convinced the powers-that-be that it is time for equality in the justice system, in law enforcement and in police activity?

Clearly, there was no equality in any of that in this country.

In our prisons, blacks per 100,000 population far outnumber Hispanics and whites. At the end of 2018, there were 2,272 blacks per 100,000 in prison. There were 1,018 Hispanics and 392 whites per 100,000, respectively, that's despite the imprisonment rate in this country in general being way down since 2006.

Blacks are roughly 13 percent of the population of this country.

Hardly seems right. Hardly seems fair.

So, are we there yet?

Will this trial of the four officers who are charged with killing and/or participating in the killing of George Floyd change anything?

Has anything changed since Trayvon Martin?

There was outrage, there were protests, even President Obama chimed in on the shooting at the time, before it ever went to trial.

But did anything change?

Has anything changed since Laquon McDonald was shot down in Chicago?

He was shot 16 times. Yet, George Floyd still happened.

Did anything change?

Did anything change after Brionna Taylor was shot eight times by police bursting into her home as she allegedly rose to defend herself?

George Floyd still happened.

Did anything change after Freddie Clay died in Baltimore, in police custody?

George Floyd still happened.

Did anything change after Sandra Bland was found dead in a Texas jail cell?

George Floyd still happened.

This list is endless. And after each of these and so many other deaths, America grieved, America cried out in protest and pain and then America went back about its business.

Maybe George Floyd didn't die for nothing.

What are America's police thinking now? They've all seen the video. They've all taken an oath.

George Floyd is dead.

Did he die in vain?

The protests since his death say no. But so many of us thought that after Laquon McDonald, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Freddie Clay.

And the peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., were violently swept aside when the president, in vanity, wanted to go across the street in front of an iconic church to have his picture taken holding a Bible upside down part of the time. Even the church's leaders protested Trump's photo op.

Australian TV captured it, and felt it.

The deaths, the protests and Trump's vanity make us look like a country in disorder.

Because we are.

So, are we there yet? Or is the next George Floyd waiting to happen?

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. More on my Sunday night show on radiofreephoenix.com.