For more than a century, a Confederate monument has towered over the heart of the University of Mississippi, a stark reminder of divisions that have endured long past the Civil War. On Thursday, state officials finally relented: The monument can go.

Tyler Parry, UNLV assistant rrofessor of African American and African Diaspora Studies, discusses the holiday Juneteenth and the significance of June 19 as it relates to the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial inequality.

In the wake of nationwide protests following the suffocation of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, the idea of defunding police departments has gained momentum in the national conversation about law enforcement and race. But the term “defund” has led to confusion and pushback from those who worry it means eliminating police entirely.

"What Black Lives Matter has initiated is a civil rights movement," said Tyler D. Parry Assistant professor of African American History at UNLV.

A police officer. A fire chief. Two popular radio personalities.

The curfews that rolled out across the country this week in reaction to police brutality protests mark a tragic milestone: Not since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. have so many cities ordered simultaneous curfews.

I can’t help but weep when I hear the outcry from George Floyd calling for his “mama” as he took his last breaths while a police officer held him down at the neck with his knees and other officers kneeling on the rest of his body.

The protests around the country have been about excessive force and deaths of black men at the hands of police. 8 News Now’s John Langeler spoke with UNLV Assistant Professor of African American studies Dr. Tyler D. Parry about why George Floyd’s death is the one that sparked this call.