Won’t someone think of the statues???

THE BIG STORY

The great racial reckoning has begun — so now what?

There have been a hell of a lot of top editors and big-time executives stepping down, from Bon Appétit’s Adam Rapoport (brownface!) to CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman (George Floyd conspiracy theories!) and New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet (didn’t read an op-ed calling for the military to be dispatched forcefully against the country’s own citizens!).

The whole thing certainly feels very similar to the rush many of us felt during the #MeToo movement a few years ago. But now that the dust is slowly starting to settle around all these departures, Tomi Obaro is asking the big question: Where do we go from here?

“The emphasis on the systemic nature of racism has inadvertently fostered a lot of navel-gazing quasi confession and fixation on how racism expresses itself in white-collar workspaces that are already wildly inequitable for a whole host of reasons,” she writes, adding that the protests have “been overshadowed by people in their hermetically sealed white-collar jobs railing about racism in their workplaces.”

We’ve been here before, of course, but the question is whether we can imagine a new, more radical future.

Ben Kothe / BuzzFeed News; Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

"I can't breathe," a Black man in Oklahoma said. "I don't care," a police officer replied.

Last year, 41-year-old Derrick Scott died while being restrained by three Oklahoma City police officers. In newly released body camera footage, he repeatedly says “I can’t breathe” while the officers pin him down for around 13 minutes. “I don’t care,” says one male officer in the video. Another tells him, “You can breathe just fine.” Scott was pronounced dead about an hour after his arrest in May 2019.

“They did not do anything for him,” said Vickey Scott, his mother, after seeing the footage. “They treated him like he was an animal.”

SNAPSHOTS

Amazon will be suspending police use of its facial recognition technology, Rekognition, but it’s only a one-year moratorium. (Please clap?)

Lady Antebellum are changing their band name to get rid of its slavery connotations, and are now going by Lady A. If Elamin were here, I’m sure he would care about this.

Protesters in Virginia tore down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. A tow truck eventually took it away. Bummer!

A&E has canceled Live PD following FOX’s cancelation of Cops. The decision comes days after it was revealed that the crew had destroyed footage of police killing a Black man in Austin during a traffic stop.

The Trump campaign is making rally attendees sign coronavirus waivers promising they won’t sue if they happen to get sick. USA! USA! USA!

MY EDITOR WANTS ME TO MAKE A PUN HERE BUT I REFUSE TO DEBASE MYSELF LIKE THAT

Do you want to go to Disneyland but with way more rules and during an international pandemic that’s still killing people? Boy, do I have the place for you!

A REAL GOOD MOMENT FOR OLD PETEY

Pete Davidson is finally explaining why he’s like this.

I wrote a little something about Pete’s new movie, The King of Staten Island, and why so many people like this weird, cute, ghostlike man. Do what I say and read it.

Whether you like it or not, every day is but a new opportunity for the tensile strength of your own fortitude to be tested yet again,

Scaachi

P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (monthly memberships are available worldwide)

📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Scaachi Koul and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
🔔 Want to be notified as soon as news breaks? Download the BuzzFeed News app for iOS and Android (available in Canadian, UK, Australian, and US app stores).
💌 Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up to get BuzzFeed News in your inbox!

Show privacy notice and cookie policy.

BuzzFeed, Inc.
111 E. 18th St.
New York, NY 10003
Unsubscribe