George Floyd's name is now added to the tragic list - already far too long - of other people of color whose lives have been cut short as a direct result of the United States' long history of racism and white supremacy.
Justice calls for a society to reckon with its legacy of past abuses, which in the United States involves acknowledging the ways in which oppression, racism, and discrimination have persisted for centuries.
Most difficult of all, justice demands nothing short of a cultural transformation, in which the state acknowledges past wrongs, society at large engages in dialogue about them, and both take concrete steps toward a future where the human rights of all citizens are fully and equally upheld.
Countries as geographically diverse as Germany, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Colombia, The Gambia, and Armenia have all surpassed the United States in the pursuit of justice for past harms.
If the American people do not heed the calls for justice, there is little doubt that the country will soon find itself again where it is now, grieving another Black life lost to police brutality or racial violence and overcome by social unrest as deep-seated and unaddressed grievances convulsively resurface and tear at the fabric of society.
