Life Isn’t Fair

I had finished a cartoon on a different topic early last week, but before I could publish it, the verdict came down in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, so I decided I should do something on that, first.

While I certainly didn’t want to throw cold water on anyone’s hard-earned celebrations of the result, I thought it was important to keep in mind the incredibly lopsided score when it comes to the many, many innocent black people who’ve been killed by cops over the years.

A single conviction is barely even the first step on the road to justice for past, present, and future victims of racist policing, yet right away, there were rumors elected officials had privately suggested Chauvin’s conviction takes the pressure off of them to do anything in pursuit of police reform—even Democrats who pretend to care about the issue!

Here in Portland, Oregon, for example, the out-of-touch, flaccid wiener we have for a mayor—himself a Democrat—thought it was the perfect time to ramp up aggressive rhetoric about arresting more people. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: What is it with Teds? Are they all massive assholes? Even one of the relatively good ones once committed negligent homicide.

The verdict also didn’t seem to have any meaningful effect on the behavior of police officers themselves, seeing as the rampant, wanton deployment of deadly force against minorities continued unabated both immediately before and afterwards. One of the most recent victims even died the same way George Floyd did, for crying out loud!

One Response to “Life Isn’t Fair”