Hiram College professor Jason Johnson was quoted in the CNN.com article “Will the Eric Garner case change things?”
Not so fast, said Jason Johnson, a political science professor at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio.
“Acknowledging something is wrong is not the same as doing something about it,” he said.
He said conservative pundits who have “cherry picked” the Garner case aren’t likely to stand arm-in-arm with protesters demanding reforms.
But what of the poll results showing more Americans take issue with the Garner decision?
That’s where Johnson sees change coming, but not with Garner’s death as the catalyst.
Political and demographic changes have been driving those changes for years, Johnson said, ever since the Rodney King case roiled Los Angeles and the nation after police officers were taped beating King as he rolled in agony on a Los Angeles street following a high-speed chase.
Trust in police has fallen in recent years, he said, citing poll results that particularly show a decline in trust among African-Americans. Meanwhile, the country has become more diverse.
Those changes will eventually force a change in how police do their work, Johnson said.