America's racial challenge is a huge issue in the Trump-era. That may sound obvious, but it is actually a long way from the misplaced talk around 2008 that "Obama's election alone somehow cured America" of all the work left to do.
"American racism does not fade on its own or dissipate after a few breakthroughs, no matter how big." @AriMelber
As @arimelber explains, systemic racism would never end in one night. To understand that racism is systemically embedded in our laws and prisons and economy and in our brains is to understand that it endures by default unless it is explicitly uprooted and reformed.
That may be why even in this Trump-era, amidst blatant racism and the Obama backlash and comfort for white supremacists and proud boys, the incident that truly broke through was not about words or statues...
It was about the action of the government killing an unarmed Black American. A slow, lengthy execution of a life. A life that was legally and morally innocent...
A life that pleaded to breath, but was executed, in broad daylight before a crowd, over an excruciating 8 minutes and 46 seconds. It was the taking of that Black life, a Black life that mattered, in the now familiar, disturbing video.
This year's protests forced more Americans to face these realities.
But, as @AriMelber highlights, convictions are the exception.
Police routinely kill about one thousand people per year. That rate is continuing AT THE SAME PACE this year. There have been about 804 killings thus far, per @washingtonpost
It’s the same pace for charges. Before 2016, police could go years in a row without a single murder conviction, despite thousands of killings per year.
That has ticked up slightly in the most egregious killings caught on tape, with about ONE officer convicted per year over the past five years for on-duty shootings, per research by Phillip Stinson.
So just as some Americans rushed to overestimate how Obama's victory curbed racism, @arimelber argues it would be the *wrong lesson* this year to conclude the scrutiny on police brutality and racism is automatically curbing its systematic use.
While this is part of this year's protests, it's actually the smallest part of America's systemic racism problem.
Everything @AriMelber reported on in his special report stems from the sliver of the criminal justice system dealing with arrests-- the first part of police interaction. But the majority of the economic and racial injustice exists elsewhere...

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More from @TheBeatWithAri

28 Oct
Did you know that most of the people in our jails are innocent?
Under America's cash bail system, if you are rich, you’re innocent until proven guilty and you prepare for trial at home. If you aren't -- you're "innocent until proven guilty" -- but you're stuck in jail until trial, because you can't pay bail.
As @AriMelber points out: being in jail doesn't feel very innocent. It also hampers your ability to prepare a defense.
Read 17 tweets
7 Aug
Joe Biden says he may announce his running mate ANY DAY, with new reports he's down to a short list including very well-known names like Kamala Harris and Susan Rice.
Which brings us to our latest "Backstory" - our series that aims to offer substantive reporting on one figure in this presidential cycle ... this time, Rep. Karen Bass!
“The California Congresswoman was picked by her peers to run the Congressional Black Caucus and she has a history in grassroots politics from volunteering as a teenager on the 1968 RFK Campaign.” @AriMelber
Read 16 tweets
20 Feb
THREAD: In a special report, @AriMelber analyzes new ways campaign spending can shape the race, online and off, in a election where "democracy is now literally more expensive for candidates than it's ever been before."

on.msnbc.com/2vPftwi
@AriMelber Democrats now have two billionaires contenders, with debate newcomer Mike Bloomberg being the richest person to ever run for president. While few billionaires have self-funded races before, Trump is the first person to self fund a primary and win.

on.msnbc.com/2vPftwi
WATCH: Multi-million dollar media buys are almost a requirement for getting near the nomination. Federal courts have cut back laws that regulate campaign spending, which leaders in both parties have warned may "cripple the political process."

bit.ly/2PaBflf
Read 7 tweets
26 Nov 19
When Obama won the 2008 Election, a landmark bribery case grew out of his Senate vacancy. The decision on who would be appointed to the seat fell into the hands of to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich – an outlandish politician who didn't follow the norms.
WATCH: In 2010, Blagojevich tried to rebound from a corruption scandal by appearing on "Celebrity Apprentice" with Donald Trump.
.@AriMelber on the similarities between Trump and Blagojevich:
"That politician turned reality star faced off with a reality star turned politician. Their thirst for manufactured attention was not their only mutual interest or habit here, because both have faced bribery scandals"
Read 13 tweets
18 Nov 19
How did Trump's E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland, a hotel magnate with no diplomatic experience, get thrust into the middle of an impeachment probe? A look into his business record before his diplomatic career, shows he was never afraid to push boundaries.
"As Ambassador, Sondland would continued to push the limits, renovating his official residence in Brussels, spending tens of thousands of dollars on furniture, rugs, and custom woodwork." @AriMelber on reports of Sondland spending taxpayer's money to fulfill his lavish lifestyle
In 2016, Sondland faced backlash for being a lead donor at a Trump fundraising event, after he supported Jeb Bush in the 2016 Primary. Sondland pulled out of the event, but later secretly donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration committee through FOUR different companies.
Read 12 tweets
11 Nov 19
THREAD: If the House decides to impeach Trump, you will be seeing more of the man who is leading the charge - House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, who has become one of the most famous people in Washington, and a major target of Trump defenders.
bit.ly/2NDHai9
While Republicans have complained that Adam Schiff is not an 'independent counsel,' Schiff has stressed the Ukraine scandal has required Congress to do the investigation themselves, after AG Barr rushed to announce the DOJ would not be opening an investigation.
Investigating a scandal and interviewing witnesses may be a lot for one committee chair to handle, Schiff has more experience with impeachment trials than most politicians - being involved in TWO of the NINE impeachment trials held in the last century.

bit.ly/2NDHai9
Read 5 tweets

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