One hundred years ago or even later, a black man could be picked up by a group of white men in some states in the United States, accused on the spot with any crime that the white mob thought appropriate, and hanged to death on the nearest tree.
Therefore, when a white police officer knelt on the neck of a black man called George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 27 May 2020 and choked him for almost nine minutes till he died, few black people were surprised.
One of the main reasons for this disproportionate killing of black men by the police is that white police officers who kill black men are usually let off.
Even then, the charges might be minor, and where they are not, jury selection often ensures that white police officers charged with the murder of a black man is acquitted.
Even where video evidence points clearly to the murder of a black man by a white policeman, the state's legal department that charges criminals often prefers lesser charges against the policemen than the crime merits.
