An absence of leadership has led America into crisis

The lack of leadership in America caused the horrific death of George Floyd. As the public was forced to come to terms with the presence of systemic racism in the United States after the video of Floyd’s death was released, they were also forced to reckon with the absence of leadership that had allowed this systemic racism to continue. American leadership’s inability to address the serious issue of structural inequality at both the local and federal levels has been clear for years. Data has been collected displaying troubling facts such as 54% of deaths related to police violence in 2019 were people of color whereas in 2014 it was just 50% ^[1]. Beyond police violence, the general standard of living for black Americans is worse than that of white Americans. The average lifespan of a black man is 71.9 years while an average white man is 76.4 ^[2]. These inequalities have reached every aspect of life, and yet American leadership has done nothing to fix these structural injustices. The growing tensions caused by the absence of a president willing to reckon with the issues of inequality that so blatantly face everyday American citizens has reached a tragic climax with the death of George Floyd.