The monumental impact of George Floyd's death on Black America

The moment happened as so many others have. A man unknown to most around the world was about to become a hashtag. Millions would watch a video played countless times over the course of a year, horrified to see a police officer press his knee into the man's neck for 9½ minutes, killing him. The desire to reverse this man's fate seemed as desperate as it was futile. 

The world changed May 25, 2020, mere months after the global pandemic had already altered everything. George Floyd's death, which occurred under the weight of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, opened many eyes to the realities of police brutality. Just about every corner of life was affected by the renewed racial justice movement spurred by Floyd's death: policing, politics, sports, art, culture, business, education, media and more. Social media feeds and kitchen tables and park benches became settings for conversation and confrontation. 

"It was an inflection moment to take a hard look at ourselves, and it was something I think most Americans were not proud of and alarmed by," said Cedric Richmond, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. 

While Floyd's death changed the world at large, the tragedy was a stark reminder, specifically for Black Americans, of the deep systemic realities underlying Black life. While that was not necessarily new information, it brought about a renewed call for action, said Richmond, a former member of Congress from Louisiana. "People have been asking for [change] for a long time. That's the whole 'Say Their Names' movement," he said, referring to the calls to invoke the names of people who have succumbed to police violence. 

The video of Floyd's last gasps for air was everywhere, for better or for worse, said Maryam Jernigan-Noesi, a psychologist who studies racial trauma. Watching situations like that can bring up past trauma for people of color, particularly Black people who were forced to watch it, sometimes more than once, she said. 

"George Floyd, for Black people, was a reminder of the history, of the consistency and of the pervasiveness" of racism, she said.