There was no racial reckoning for George Floyd

CNN — They tell me I’ve experienced a “racial reckoning.” I keep seeing that phrase pop up in news stories. Gestures by White people do not equal true change For some, a racial reckoning occurs when enough White people suddenly realize that the country’s racial problems are much worse than they thought. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images “It struck me as a historical moment, like the pictures of the police dogs lunging at protestors in the streets of Birmingham or the Rodney King beating,” says Bryant, author of the book, “When America Stopped Being Great: A History of the Present.” “As somebody who studied the civil rights movement,” he says, “I knew those kinds of moments led to a reckoning and led to change.” But there is another definition of racial reckoning that many people of color and their White allies subscribe to. Real change can’t happen unless White people are willing to give up some power and resources where they live, said Delmont, author of “Why Busing Failed: Race, Media, and the National Resistance to School Desegregation.” “The sign that change is real as opposed to symbolic is that people are making real changes to things close to them in their own backyards, such as supporting more affordable housing in their neighborhood, and programs that would integrate schools,” says Delmont. People will put Black Lives Matter signs on their front porches, CEOs will release statements of support and some White people will once again talk about a new “racial reckoning.” A year after many brave and well-meaning White people hit the streets to protest Floyd’s death, I’m still grateful for what I see and hear from many of our White allies.