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Graphic Truth: Five years on from George Floyd, pessimism sets in

May 22, 2025
Zac Weisz
and
Luisa Vieira
Luisa Vieira

Five years ago this Sunday, a white police officer was filmed killing George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis during an arrest. Video of the killing sparked protests, violence, and a racial reckoning in the United States and across the globe. Many segments of the public, especially on the left, clamored for institutional changes in the wake of Floyd’s murder — including an overhaul of US police departments — with the aim of addressing perceived systemic biases and advancing racial equality.

But since then, hopes for racial equality between Black and white Americans have waned. In January 2019, 65% of US adults believed that Black Americans would have equal rights with white people, per Pew Research Center polling. Today, that figure is 51%. The drop in optimism has been especially pronounced among white Americans, as the graphic shows.

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