Police trials as benchmarks for racial justice

The verdict in the trial of a police officer for George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis must be seen against the progress made in states since that tragic yet galvanizing moment.

For many Americans the trial of the white police officer implicated in the death of a Black man named George Floyd in Minneapolis last May is the most important test of racial justice in a generation. Officer Derek Chauvin faces charges of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and possibly third-degree murder.

The trial carries heavy expectations. It comes at a time...