Rittenhouse trial, Arbery death reflect deepening political, racial divides
The courtroom is the latest place where the nation's yawning political and cultural chasm is on vivid display.
One criminal trial centered on Kyle Rittenhouse's shooting of three people in Wisconsin. He was found not guilty on all counts of homicide and reckless endangerment on Nov. 19.
The other trial focused on three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. The defendants claim they were making a citizen's arrest. Critics call it a "lynching."
What these cases have in common is that they address the normalization of violence in this country, the left-right divide and, in some cases, the extremism and hate. … Race is always part of that.
— Oren Segal
Vice president of the ADL's Center on Extremism.
The trials unfold as the nation confronts a rise in political division; the growth in the white supremacy movement; the killing of unarmed Black people; and the massive Black Lives Matter and social justice protests that gained prominence in 2020.
A Pew Research Center survey concluded that political polarization, especially when it comes to racial justice issues, is "the dominant, seemingly unalterable condition of American politics."
How Americans see the facts of these cases can be shaped by their culture and understanding of racial issues, National Urban League President Marc Morial said.
Whatever the verdicts are, many Americans will continue to argue over gun rights, structural racism and how the legal system treats people from different backgrounds, experts said.
The nation has to get beyond the divide. This kind of divide is not sustainable for the body politic.
— Marc Morial
National Urban League President
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