These Robotically Similar Reactions To The Derek Chauvin Verdict Will Inspire You

by Michael Tracey

You probably have noticed that corporations, academic institutions, elected officials, and virtually everyone else with a public-facing profile is extraordinarily passionate about “the work” of rectifying racial injustice in the United States. Often their passion compels them to recite almost the exact same words and phrases in response to current events, such as the Guilty verdict rendered Tuesday in the trial of Derek Chauvin. These displays of independent thought and moral reasoning are worthy of our deep and everlasting gratitude.

Some reactions to the verdict were abnormally intense, such as that of Vermont state legislator Kesha Ram, who reported having something like an out-of-body experience:

I don’t feel like I can get a full breath of air into my lungs. And the symbolism of that, and of what this country does to Black and Brown Americans praying for the faintest glimmer of justice, is not lost on me. It should not be lost on you, either. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd

— Kesha Ram (@KeshaRam) April 20, 2021

My whole body is trying to absorb this guilty verdict and revoked bail with a disbelief lodged deep in my soul. It is accountability, and in this nation, the arc of the moral universe has just bent slightly toward justice. Prayers for the Floyd family. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd

— Kesha Ram (@KeshaRam) April 20, 2021

But more typical were corporations, academic institutions, and elected officials vowing their resolve to continue “work” of an unspecified nature. Professional sports franchises have especially placed themselves at the vanguard of this new revolutionary consciousness. For example, the Minnesota Wild hockey team proclaimed that there is “still much work to be done.” And although the precise details of the forthcoming “work” were not clarified, we can all rest easy knowing that this hockey team has pledged its commitment to doing work of some kind, at some point in the future.

The Buffalo Sabres hockey team also appeared to agree that there is “so much more work to be done.” Undoubtedly the similarities in the phrasing of these post-verdict statements are sheer happenstance and warrant no further inquiry. After all, it’s difficult to fathom that talking points could be purposely synchronized across the PR units of commercial industries. Surely the Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres hockey teams arrived at the same wordage totally autonomously, by way of their careful study of the relevant issues at hand. And for that they are owed our eternal thanks.

By astonishing coincidence, Brian Cornell, the CEO of Target Corporation, also agreed with this sentiment in nearly the exact same language. “Today’s verdict does not mean that our work is done. There’s much more to do,” he vowed. As did the web-based food delivery service Grubhub, which likewise affirmed that “much more work must be done.” Andrew Dreyfus, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, similarly decreed, “Much work remains to be done.” Pohlad Group, a Minnesota business conglomerate with holdings in everything from commercial real estate to robotic automation, couldn’t contain itself and declared before the verdict was even issued that “whatever the jury decides, there will still be much work to do.”

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