Protests Sweep America in Response to Death of George Floyd

(Published - 1 June 2020. Data updated - June 2 2020)  We estimate that during the last six days, over 100,000 people across the United States took part in protests in response to the death on 25 May of George Floyd, a black man who was in the custody of law enforcement in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Compare that to the roughly 50,000 who have protested over the last 40 days to demand state officials ease COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, and you get an immediate sense for the inflamed conditions in the United States.

We could point to many possible answers as to "Why?" the nationwide response to this particular crime, at this particular time, but taking a note from the 1992 (Bill) Clinton presidential campaign, at least one factor leaps to mind: "It's the economy, stupid."

• COVID-19 has been particularly tough on hourly wage earners, among which African Americans are overrepresented.
• This exacerbation of income inequality during COVID-19 has emerged as well in distorted average earnings figures in the United States, reflecting a spike as low-wage earners are left out of the COVID-19 pandemic economy.