The Derek Chauvin trial is just more evidence of a racist system

Regardless of its outcome

But what if Chauvin is found guilty of all of the charges, including second-degree unintentional murder, and he ends up getting sentenced to the maximum 15 years? Isn’t that evidence that “the system” is back on track?

No, it’s just more evidence that the system is broken, regardless. In spite of the fact that there’s a mountain of video (and other forensic) proof, it isn’t a foregone conclusion that there even will be a guilty verdict. It might not even be likely. Odds are that there’s at least one rabid racist on the jury panel who’ll latch on to some rancid testimony by an “expert” defense witness and force a hung jury.

To be clear, Chauvin deserves a robust defense and a fair trial. I’m not saying Blue Lives don’t matter. Quite the opposite. They matter quite a lot and they always have.

But here’s the systemic racism part. What if a Black man were caught on video, casually snuffing out the life of a police officer? Would that Black man get a fair trial with expert witnesses, and charges limited to unintentional murder with a 15-year maximum?

No, the answer is no. He would not. He’d get a plea deal, something like 30-to-life, and that would turn into “death by incarceration”…he’d face denial after denial after the conclusion of those 30 years. There would be no million dollar defense effort, with hired guns willing to lie for a price and tell the jury they…