Much like the verdict for Derek Chauvin, we at AAOP acknowledge the complex relief much of our community feels hearing the guilty verdict. But we know that this guilty verdict does not bring George Floyd back to life. The guilty verdict doesn’t hold the root of the problems, the police as an institution accountable for the harm they’ve caused to our communities, nor does it erase the collective trauma our communities have experienced in the summer after Mr. Floyd’s murder or the previous or subsequent murders of other Black and Asian folks including Fong Lee, Philando Castile, Daunte Wright, and Amir Locke.
Justice cannot always mean conviction and accountability. It needs to be about building our communities up: investing in our youth and education, our schools, our roads, our people, our health, and our housing. As young Asian Minnesotans, we strive to build communities where we value and support each other’s wellness across racial and ethnic lines, across abilities, gender and class.