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GEORGE FLOYD FIVE YEARS LATER Akira Ross Jordan Neely Darryl Tyree Williams Tyre Nichols Keenan Anderson Sinzae Reed Keshawn Thomas Dante Kittrell Jayland Walker Christopher Kelley Ruth Whitfield Pearl Young Katherine Massey Heyward Patterson Celestine Chaney Geraldine Talley Aaron Salter Jr. Andre Mackniel Margus Morrison Roberta Drury Patrick Lyoya Donnell Rochester Amir Locke Isaiah Tyree Williams Jason Walker James Williams Michael Wayne Jackson Arnell “AJ” Stewart Fanta Bility Alvin Motley Jr. Ta’Neasha Chappell Ryan Leroux Winston Smith Latoya Denise James Andrew Brown Jr. Ma’Khia Bryant Matthew “Zadok” Williams Daunte Wright James Lionel Johnson Dominique Williams Donovon Lynch Marvin Scott III Jenoah Donald Patrick Warren Xzavier Hill Robert Howard Vincent Belmonte Monica Goods Bennie Edwards Casey Goodson Jr. Aiden Ellison Quawan Charles Kevin Peterson Jr. Walter Wallace Jr. Jonathan Price Kurt Reinhold Dijon Kizzee Damian Daniels Anthony McClain Julian Lewis Maurice Abisdid-Wagner Brayla Stone Rayshard Brooks Priscilla Slater Robert Forbes Kamal Flowers Jamel Floyd David McAtee James Scurlock Calvin Horton Jr. Tony McDade Dion Johnson George Floyd Maurice Gordon Cornelius Fredericks Steven Taylor Daniel Prude Breonna Taylor Barry Gedeus Manuel Ellis Reginald “Reggie” Payne Ahmaud Arbery Lionel Morris Jaquyn O’Neill Light William Green Darius Tarver Miciah Lee John Neville Cameron Lamb Michael Dean Atatiana Jefferson Byron Williams Elijah McClain Jaleel Medlock Titi “Tete” Gulley Dominique Clayton Pamela Turner Ronald Greene Sterling Higgins Bradley Blackshire Jassmine McBride Aleah Jenkins Emantic Bradford Jr. Jemel Roberson Charles Roundtree Jr. Botham Jean Harith Augustus Jason Washington Antwon Rose Jr. Robert White Earl McNeil Marcus-David Peters Dorian Harris Danny Ray Thomas Stephon Clark Ronell Foster Damon Grimes James Lacy Charleena Lyles Mikel McIntyre Jordan Edwards Timothy Caughman Alteria Woods Desmond Phillips Deborah Danner Alfred Olango Terence Crutcher Christian Taylor Jamarion Robinson Donnell Thompson Jr. Joseph Mann Philando Castile Alton Sterling Jay Anderson Jr. Che Taylor David Joseph Antronie Scott Bettie Jones Quintonio LeGrier Corey Jones Samuel DuBose Darrius Stewart Sandra Bland Susie Jackson Daniel Simmons Ethel Lance Myra Thompson Cynthia Hurd DePayne Middleton- Doctor Sharonda Coleman-Singleton Clementa Pinckney TyWanza Sanders Kalief Browder Freddie Gray Norman Cooper Walter Scott Eric Harris Meagan Hockaday Natasha McKenna Rumain Brisbon Tamir Rice Akai Gurley Tanisha Anderson Laquan McDonald Cameron Tillman Darrien Hunt Kajieme Powell Michelle Cusseaux Dante Parker Ezell Ford Michael Brown Amir Brooks John Crawford III Eric Garner Jerry Dwight Brown Victor White III Marquise Jones Yvette Smith Renisha McBride Jonathan Ferrell Deion Fludd Gabriel Winzer Wayne A. Jones Kimani Gray Kayla Moore Corey Stingley Darnesha Harris Jordan Davis Mohamed Bah Sgt. James Brown Darius Simmons Rekia Boyd Trayvon Martin Willie Ray Banks Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. Cletis Williams Robert Ricks Eugene Ellison Danroy “DJ” Henry Jr. Aiyana Stanley-Jones Lawrence Allen Oscar Grant Julian Alexander Marvin Parker DeAunta Farrow Sean Bell Kathryn Johnston Timothy Stansbury Jr. Alberta Spruill Anthony Dwain Lee Ricky Byrdsong Amadou Diallo James Byrd Jr. Nicholas Heyward Jr. Mary Mitchell Sharon Walker Eleanor Bumpurs Edward Gardner Elton Hayes Fred Hampton Martin Luther King Jr. Alberta Odell Jones Jimmie Lee Jackson Malcolm X James Earl Chaney Louis Allen Medgar Evers Herbert Lee John Earl Reese Emmett Till William McDuffie Della McDuffie Malcolm Wright George Stinney Jr. Dr. Andrew C. Jackson Will Brown Levi Harrington Was it a Moment or a Movement? GEORGE FLOYD FIVE YEARS LATER A National Urban League Publication 2025 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Publisher Marc H. Morial Executive Editors Rhonda Spears Bell Tara Murray Jerika Richardson Editorial Director Michael Tomlin-Crutchfield Managing Directors & Contributors Teresa Candori Adeyinka Ogunlegan Antonesia Wiley Yannick Wood Ray Shackelford Blake Paradis Design Untuck3 National Urban League | George Floyd Five Years Later CONTENTS I. Overview ................................................4 II. 2020: The Murder of George Floyd and the Rebirth of the Modern Civil Rights Era .......... 5 III. 2021: A New Administration’s Fight for Racial Justice: The Biden Administration, Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, and Corporate Commitments ............................6 IV. 2022: The Midterm Elections and a Retrospective on America’s Attitudes on Race in the Trump Era Election Cycles (2016–2022) .............................................8 V. 2023: The Anti-Black Racist Movement and the Attack on Affirmative Action ................10 VI. 2024: The 2024 Election and the Reversal of Corporate Commitments ........................11 VII. 2025: Surviving This Term and Where We Go From Here ..........................................12 VIII. Conclusion—Was it a Moment or a Movement? ......................................144 National Urban League | George Floyd Five Years Later OVERVIEW Like the rest of the country, Minnesota has had a complicated history with race. In 1920, three Black men, Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie, were lynched in Duluth, Minnesota, after being falsely accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. Local sheriffs and police deputies joined a sea of thousands of spectatos, who cheered on the brutal murders. The following year, Minnesota passed its first anti-lynching law, and in 2003, the city of Duluth erected a memorial in the men’s honor. The cycle of massacre and symbolic atonement repeated itself 100 years later and 150 miles south on May 25, 2020, when police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the back and neck of a restrained George Floyd for nine minutes and 29 seconds. The incident, which was caught on film, ignited one of the most significant calls for racial justice in generations. City streets from Minneapolis to Madrid filled with protestors demanding police accountability and government actions to create a world that provides equal protection and equitable opportunities for marginalized communities. Calls for change ignited a system-wide reckoning, with commitments to racial equity across corporate America, institutions of higher education, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector joining the movement, pledging to confront systemic racism within their own ranks. This collective response sparked a recruiting surge for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practitioners and organizations pledging billions to support minority-owned businesses and community-based organizations while vowing to overhaul their hiring practices, supplier diversity strategies, and internal cultures. Five years after George Floyd’s murder, we are living in a different America. As President Trump began his second term, he signed various executive orders gutting federal diversity programs and efforts. This led to corporations and institutions of higher education abandoning their commitments to racial justice and eliminating their diversity programs altogether, leaving communities of color wondering where we go from here. This report attempts to answer the question of whether America’s commitment to racial justice was a moment or a movement by: • Examining shifts in American attitudes on race in the last three election cycles. • Examining the progress and setbacks made on police reforms. • Examining of commitments made by corporations and institutions of higher education. • Interrogating the impact of the commitments made by corporations and institutions on Black communities over the last five years. • Identifying the threats we face over the next four years and where we go from here. Five years after the murder of George Floyd, Black and other marginalized communities have been pushed deeper into survival mode. This report serves as a reminder of what we’ve gained, what’s been lost, and how to navigate this new era. I. 5 National Urban League | George Floyd Five Years Later II. 2020: THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD AND THE REBIRTH OF THE MODERN CIVIL RIGHTS ERA In May 2020, Americans were in the throes of an epidemic that brought the world to a halt and would eventually claim the lives of over one million Americans. The collective anxieties and uncertainty about our future brought out an outpouring of humanity across communities as people found creative ways to work, connect with loved ones, and support one another. On May 25th, that sense of community was tested unimaginably when a bystander shared a nine-minute and 29-second video of Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd as he repeatedly said a chilling phrase that still haunts us today— “I can’t breathe.” Within days, anger reverberated across the country and the globe as protestors took to the streets to denounce police brutality and systemic racism. As protestors filled the streets, black squares covered millions of social media pages, and celebrities and American institutions from the NFL to NASCAR began denouncing racism, civil rights organizations rallied to push for changes at the state and federal level. The National Urban League created a new division, Equitable Justice and Strategic Initiatives (EJSI), to advocate for a justice system rooted in fairness that protects, serves, and restores all communities. EJSI got to work immediately, pushing for reforms by: • Providing policy guidance to research to Urban League affiliates to drive change at the local level. • Building coalitions of partners through convening conversations. • Drafting legislation. • And organizing advocacy days and meetings with elected officials. Simultaneously, the National Urban League amplified its national thought leadership through platforms such as its Annual Conference and Legislative Policy Conference, elevating racial justice to the forefront of political and public discourse. At the grassroots level, affiliates intensified their engagement, forging new partnerships with corporations and municipal leaders to co-create solutions rooted in equity and accountability. The fight against injustice didn’t stop at the advocacy level. By the end of 2020, some of the world’s largest companies pledged more than $66 billion in funds to fight racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd. At the local level, Urban League affiliates began partnering with corporations that committed millions of dollars to addressing inequities in their cities and states. By the 2020 Presidential election, police violence and racial discrimination closed the top five issues among likely voters, only led by the economy, schools, and COVID-19. In a narrow race, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected after pledging to build an America where all could thrive, receive equitable treatment under the law, and be safe. What followed were years of federal commitments to address systemic racism and the growth of conservative backlash.6 National Urban League | George Floyd Five Years Later III. 2021: A NEW ADMINISTRATION’S FIGHT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE: THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DOJ, AND CORPORATE COMMITMENTS The inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was at an inflection point in America. After months of lockdowns, countless deaths, and a racial reckoning, the administration got to work to close many of the chasms that broke the nation apart. Five days into his first term, President Biden signed his first executive order to address racial inequities in America. The order required every agency to assess its policies and programs for barriers to Black Americans and other underserved communities, and to develop concrete strategies to deliver resources and benefits equitably. To advance its racial justice agenda, the administration leaned on partners, including the National Urban League, to meet the racial justice goals of its policy commitments. The Urban League went on to produce 21 Pillars for Redefining Public Safety and Restoring Community Trust (“21 Pillars”), a framework for advocacy that redefines public safety and restores community trust. The work also extended to Congress, where the Urban League was a key partner at the table in the development of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The legislation introduced in February 2021 sought to improve accountability for law enforcement misconduct, restrict the use of certain policing practices, enhance transparency and data collection, and establish best practices and training requirements by: • Establishing a framework to prevent and remedy racial profiling by law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels. It also limits the unnecessary use of force and restricts the use of no-knock warrants, chokeholds, and carotid holds. • Creating a national registry—the National Police Misconduct Registry—to compile data on complaints and records of police misconduct. It also establishes new reporting requirements, including on the use of force, officer misconduct, and routine policing practices (e.g., stops and searches). • Directing the DOJ to create uniform accreditation standards for law enforcement agencies and requiring law enforcement officers to complete training on racial profiling, implicit bias, and the duty to intervene when another officer uses excessive force. The work to reform systems continued when President Biden selected Kristen Clarke, the first Black woman confirmed to head the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Under Clarke’s leadership, the DOJ went on to convict more than 180 police officers of civil rights abuses, including the officers known as the “Goon Squad” who tortured two Black men in Mississippi and those connected to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tyre Nichols. The civil rights division also launched investigations into twelve police departments and entered into consent decrees with several police departments with documented civil rights violations, including Louisville, where Breonna Taylor was killed and Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed. The consent decrees in Louisville and Minneapolis have yet to be ordered by a judge. 7 National Urban League | George Floyd Five Years Later The DOJ increased its investigations of abuse in prisons and jails, as well. In 2021, the DOJ launched a statewide investigation of Georgia prisons, where 44 people had been killed in less than two years. The following year, it found violent conditions and abusive solitary confinement at Mississippi State Penitentiary, where 70% of prisoners are Black, resulting in 10 homicides and 12 suicides since 2019. The administration also passed two transformative pieces of legislation that signaled a change in the federal government’s investment in closing racial equity gaps. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 allocated $1.9 trillion in economic relief to address the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the law, relief funds went directly to cities, school districts, and transit authorities, many of which have large Black populations and leaders, empowering them to close infrastructure gaps as they recovered from the pandemic. The law also funded the National Urban League’s All In Against COVID campaign, which was created to close vaccine acceptance gaps in marginalized communities. The campaign went on to reach over 220,000 people at affiliate-led events. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), aka Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), authorized $1.2 trillion for transportation and infrastructure spending with $550 billion of that figure going toward “new” investments and programs. Under the law, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) became a statutory agency. As 2021 came to a close, the Urban League affiliate movement partnered with EJSI to advocate for change in police practices at the local level to launch a heartland tour of the 21 Pillars framework in Columbus and Louisville. The tour continued in Chicago and Kansas City the following year. Corporate commitments to racial justice continued to rise alongside federal support, with more than $200 billion in additional dollars pledged to fight inequality. The future of these commitments would be tested in 2022 with a coming midterm election cycle, growing disinformation online about critical race theory (CRT), and grievances from the right about the fairness of the administration’s focus on race.8 National Urban League | George Floyd Five Years Later IV. 2022: THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS AND A RETROSPECTIVE ON AMERICA’S ATTITUDES ON RACE IN THE TRUMP ERA ELECTION CYCLES (2016–2022) The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) became a landmark moment for the administration. The newly passed law aimed to build an economy that works for working families by lowering prescription drug, health care, and energy costs. It played a significant role in advancing racial equity. Under the law, African American communities benefited through various programs, including: • $2.2 billion in relief through the USDA to borrowers who have “experienced discrimination” in federal farm loan programs. • Limiting the price of insulin to $35/ month under Medicare, capping seniors’ out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions at $2,000/year, winning Medicare the authority to negotiate drug prices with big pharmaceutical companies, and requiring companies that raise their drug prices faster than inflation to pay Medicare a rebate. • As Black enrollment in the Affordable Care Act increased 59% between 2020 and 2022, the IRA locked in historically low premiums through 2025. • Extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, droughts, hurricanes, and other climate disasters hit communities of color disproportionately hard, and they are becoming more frequent. Together with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the IRA provided more than $50 billion for climate resilience strategies, such as modernizing the electric grid, improving water storage and delivery, expanding wildfire firefighting forces, and expanding green space. The administration also committed to tackling housing discrimination, increasing funding for public education, and expanding Head Start. Through the American Rescue Plan, the economy generated 2.6 million jobs for Black workers under the Biden Administration—part of a 14.8 million job boom. Black unemployment dropped to a historic low of 4.7% and has stayed low. Black child poverty was cut in half in a single year, hitting its lowest level on record and improving the lives of over 700,000 Black children. On the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, President Biden signed an executive order—Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety—aimed at restoring faith in law enforcement and addressing systemic misconduct. The order created a new national database to track police misconduct, restricted the use of no-knock entries and chokeholds for federal officers, and called for stronger federal oversight of local police departments through pattern-or-practice investigations. It also emphasized de-escalation training, mental health support, and community policing strategies, establishing clear federal standards for use of force. The order signaled a shift from the Trump-era rollback of police reform, which had curtailed federal oversight and removed consent decrees used to hold departments accountable. While the executive order didn’t apply directly to local law enforcement, it set a new federal tone— one that was meant to inspire broader reforms. However, with the GOP’s resurgence in 2022 and declining voter focus on racial justice, the order became a solitary federal stance amid growing state-level resistance and backlash.9 National Urban League | George Floyd Five Years Later The CHIPS and Science Act allocated $52 billion in funding for incentives, authorized $170 billion for R&D, and included an investment tax credit to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research. The bill also required the National Science Foundation to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities in its recruiting efforts to ensure that diverse applicants were part of America’s technology driven future. Corporate America also began to see tangible results in its investments through an increase in the hiring of Black talent. According to data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in 2021, 88 S&P 100 companies increased their US workforces by 323,094 people in total, the first year after the Black Lives Matter protests and the most recent year for which this data exists. 94% of the headcount increase went to people of color. This progress was met with backlash in the 2022 midterm election. Ahead of the midterms, police reform and racial justice dropped out of the top five issues for likely voters and fell out of the top 18. The Urban League movement mobilized by relaunching its Reclaim Your Vote initiative to drive voter registration on the ground through door knocking, voter education, and phone banking across the country. But by the fall of 2022, Republicans, many of whom identified as 2020 election deniers, took control of the House of Representatives, and a tidal wave of voter suppression laws exploded across the country. The rise in conservatism across America became a harbinger for what was to come of the racial justice reckoning. It began to raise the question of whether this was a movement or a moment.Next >