We are in the midst of a very interesting time in the United States – will the killing of George Floyd prove to be a watershed moment in America’s racist dynamic, or will it be another tectonic event such as the lynching of Emmett Till or the beating of Rodney King, resulting in large-scale motion that leaves the US' racist topography unchanged? On the national level, following widespread protests over Floyd's death, House and Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. This is their plan to enact wide-ranging reforms in police departments across the country. "It would prohibit the use of chokeholds, lower legal standards to pursue criminal and civil penalties for police misconduct and ban no-knock warrants in drug-related cases. The plan would also create a national registry to track police misconduct," NPR reported Monday. Will this work?
How important is it in the minds of those in power in the US to control the narrative, both domestically and internationally? Is perception reality? "It looks like the main US regime propaganda outlet, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), is censoring and downplaying the orgy of police violence that’s being unleashed against people protesting killer cops and the murder of George Floyd," said a Sunday article in The Grayzone. "With a budget that hovers around $100 million, RFE/RL broadcasts to something like 22 countries in 26 languages. And the same censorship regime extends to just about every RFE/RL language division." European entities are covering the issue of Floyd and the resulting protests, but RFE/RL don’t seem to find it that important.
"Fewer than half the [US] states are following federal recommendations to report probable coronavirus cases and deaths, marking what experts say is an unusual break with public health practices that leads to inconsistent data collection and undercounts of the disease’s impact," the Washington Post reported Monday. What’s going on here, and how important is it?
GUESTS:
David Schultz - Professor of political science at Hamline University.
Dr. Clarence Lusane - Political scientist, author and former chairman of the Political Science Department at Howard University. He’s an internationally recognized expert on comparative and international politics.
Dr. Yolandra Hancock - Public health expert with a focus on health disparities and a professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com
