BLM Updates After the Summer of 2020
Biden's Executive Order |
BLM Under President Biden - the Early Days |
In May 2022, signed an executive order mandating new use-of-force rules for federal law enforcement officers as well as directing the Justice Department to create a database to keep track of disciplinary records of federal officers. This executive order is the outcome of the failure of Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in 2021 (Kaste).
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act had passed the House, but not the Senate. This legislation would have created wider changes than Biden's executive order, as Biden does not have as much authority to directly control state and local law enforcement officers on his own (Viser). Learn more about the executive order here: |
The national Black Lives Matter organization (which leads the Black Lives Matter movement) requested a meeting with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the night of their election victory. Over a month later, they had yet to hear a response. By June 2021, BLM leaders had met with President Biden's team to discuss their agenda. The group reportedly was not pleased with what has happened following the discussion, especially regarding the fact that there have been proposals to give more funding to police departments.
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One Year Later...
Call for Action by the United Nations
On February 26, 2021, independent UN human rights experts (experts who were appointed by the UN Human Rights council who are not UN staff nor paid by the UN) appealed for the Biden administration to adopt reforms to end police brutality and address systemic racism. They stated that affected communities must have a voice in such reforms, like diverting funding from policing to other measures.
The experts said: "We have repeatedly raised our concerns about the excessive force used by American police in the context of peaceful demonstrations, and the use of lethal force against individuals who did not present a threat to life at the time of the police intervention." They called for legal frameworks on the use of lethal force to be revised in order to reflect human rights standards, and for the reform of policies regarding tear gas and pepper spray during protests. The experts also stated that “Policing reforms must adopt genuine and substantive measures to dismantle systemic racism in policing, including against racial, ethnic and other minorities, by divestment from current policing budgets and reinvestment in alternative social and economic resources that are vital for the safety of these communities" (Human Rights). |
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George Floyd Square
City workers removed flowers, artwork, and barriers that made up the memorial to George Floyd for over a year on June 3, 2021 at the intersection that has become known as George Floyd Square. City officials had hoped that allowing traffic to go through the intersection again would help businesses to thrive and reduce violence, but protestors have said that this action was disrespectful to Floyd's memory. City officials announced a series of investments in the areas and changed the name of Chicago Avenue to George Perry Floyd Jr. Place. Officials have also stated that they are committed to establishing a permanent memorial at the intersection (Winter, Deena, et al.).
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