After the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed in the summer and fall of 2020, the news media, schools, universities, and much of corporate America pledged themselves to the goal of defending black lives.
“This time is different,” editorialized The New York Times on June 5, 2022. “The urgency and validity of the movement” to protect black people “had finally been recognized” and reached “its boiling point.” We would end, once and for all, the editorial proclaimed triumphantly, “unchecked state violence against black people.”
That didn’t happen. The number of black people killed by police in 2022 reached a record high, while the number of black lives lost to homicide rose dramatically, from 7,777 in 2019 to 9,941 in 2020 to 8,534 in 2021. In 2022, US law enforcement killed 1,176 people, making it the deadliest year since 2013.
There’s also some good news: homicides declined in 2022. But by a mere 5%, a fraction of the nearly 30% rise from 2019 to 2020. The drop didn’t even make up for the 6% rise in 2021.
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