It’s been five years since the life of the greatest of all Americans was cut short and Tim Walz reminds us that we should “honor him”:
What have we actually done for Americans like George Floyd? The Boston Globe says that $1 billion was spent in Maskachusetts and there is nothing to show for it.
The most significant change to American society since May 2020 is that the borders were fully open for about four years, thus leading to a massive increase in low-skill immigration. In addition to at least 4 million green cards (permanent residence) issued (“legal immigrants”), there were approximately10 million undocumented migrants (combined total of more people than live in New York City and Los Angeles put together). “Effects of Immigration on African-American Employment and Incarceration” (NBER 2007):
For white men, an immigration boost of 10 percent caused their employment rate to fall just 0.7 percentage points; for black men, it fell 2.4 percentage points.
That same immigration rise was also correlated with a rise in incarceration rates. For white men, a 10 percent rise in immigration appeared to cause a 0.1 percentage point increase in the incarceration rate for white men. But for black men, it meant a nearly 1 percentage-point rise.
Readers: What are you doing to honor George Floyd today?
Related:
- “How the Right Has Reshaped the Narrative Around George Floyd” (New York Times, May 24, 2025), which points out that it is a right-wing lie for anyone to say that George Floyd had a criminal record (the NYT certainly does not list any examples of crimes in which Mr. Floyd might have been involved)
- Apple reminds us about the “sacred” nature of today:
Indeed, NPR led this morning with the important George Floyd recap, Two Jews murdered last week in D.C.…already much further down in the news cycle.
While Governor Tim Walz honors and reminds us to remember George Floyd, let us remind the governor that, “Murders plummet nationwide, but rise in Minneapolis” [1].
There are many other tragic incidents involving both violent and non-violent Black folks who lose their lives at the hands of Blacks within their own communities, yet these stories rarely receive national attention — maybe 2 or 3 days as local news. I guess BLM is mute when Blacks-kill-Blacks?
[1] https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/01/02/murders-plummet-nationwide-but-rise-in-minneapolis/
Minneapolis is still “mostly murder-free” in that the average person doesn’t get murdered every year.
Congratulations to Mr Floyd for being 5 years sober today!