Will Rittenhouse Verdict Be Tipping Point in War Against White Supremacy?

The National Guard has been deployed ahead of the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

The summer of 2020 was unquestionably one of the most tumultuous in modern American history as the nation struggled to reconcile with the violent, unnecessary deaths of countless unarmed black men at the hands of police authorities across the country. While many point to the torture and murder of George Floyd, who died on the street under the throat crushing knee of an officer although he posed no threat, as the catalyst for the unrest that broke out, the fact remains that Floyd’s murder was the culmination of decades of abuse and murder of Black Americans that had previously been endured in the quietude of their communities. While society generally looked away, often citing either ignorance or disinterest, the Black community suffered a persistent, multi-generational trauma of senseless deaths. Alone, they battled the racially charged anxieties of white police forces whose paranoia or prejudice rendered them incompetent and unqualified when it came to carrying out their duties without bias.

When the death of George Floyd finally thrust this ongoing pattern of tragedies into the national spotlight, white supremacists, emboldened by a divisive newly elected President, perceived their collective grieving as a…