--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Wednesday, April 21st. I'm Duarte Giraldino. And I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It only took about 10 hours of deliberation for a jury to find former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts in the killing of George Floyd. The charges include second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Chauvin's conviction is an extremely rare outcome in cases like these. Derek Chauvin's been found guilty!
--:-- Shamita Basu: The former officer is expected to be sentenced in eight weeks. He faces up to 40 years in prison. George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, told CNN what was on his mind as he heard the verdict.
--:-- Philonise Floyd: This is a pivotal moment in history. And all I can think about is Emmett Till. I think about Sandra Bland. I think about Ms. Carr with Eric Garner. There's so many people. We have new people being killed, Daunte Wright. I think about Jacob Blake. I think about Philando Castile. All of these people, they're all dead. And I think today has been an occasion where people can celebrate, but tomorrow it's back to business.
--:-- Shamita Basu: President Biden addressed the nation last night saying the cell phone video of Floyd's murder played a significant part in reaching this rare verdict.
--:-- Joe Biden: It was a murder in the full light of day, and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He and Vice President Harris are calling for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Some of the things it would do include banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants. It would also require all law enforcement go through training on racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling. And it would change the way officers can be held accountable in court.
--:-- Joe Biden: A measure of justice isn't the same as equal justice. This verdict brings us a step closer and the fact is we still have work to do. We still must reform the system.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That seemed to be the prevailing takeaway for so many people. This was a rare outcome and the work isn't over.
--:-- Zach Cheney Rice: I'm Zach Cheney Rice, and I write about race and inequality for New York Magazine. In an opinion piece, I say, yes, this trial was rare. And that's why Chauvin's guilty verdict does not deliver true justice.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He writes, when police testified against Chauvin, it was an act of self-preservation on the part of the police. It was sacrificial, a way to send the message that a bad officer can and should be punished. But it wasn't an acknowledgement of the need for wider systemic change.
--:-- Karen Attiah: I'm Karen Attiah, and I write for the Washington Post opinion pages. I invoke the social justice facilitator, Adrienne Marie Brown, and call this an imagination battle. The idea here is that George Floyd and other black people killed by police, they aren't with us anymore because, to quote her, in some white imagination, they were dangerous.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Atiyah also writes, Chauvin's guilty verdict is a low bar for justice. She recalls the names of other black people who died in similar circumstances and points out, it took three months of global protest to demand the world's sustained awareness of the systemic injustices at play.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Today, the Senate is expected to vote on a bill to address hate crimes committed against Asian Americans. It's called the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. Senator Mazie Hirono, a chief sponsor of the bill, spoke about it with ABC's The View.
--:-- Mazie Hirono: This is a bill that enables the Senate, at least, and I know followed by the House, to take a stand and say these kinds of unprovoked attacks targeting Asian Americans are totally unacceptable.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Research from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found in 16 of the largest U.S. cities, anti-Asian hate crimes rose by nearly 150 percent last year.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the face of numbers like this, Vox is pointing out this bill is largely a symbolic gesture. It's not a sweeping hate crime reform package. If it passes, it will designate a Justice Department official to review hate crimes against Asian Americans. And the Senate is also expected to consider an amendment that would set aside funding for regional law enforcement offices to create hate crime hotlines and improve their hate crime tracking.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The bill itself is pretty limited in scope, and yet Vox says it can still make a meaningful difference. First of all, it's a unique opportunity for bipartisanship. It needs 60 votes, including at least 10 Republicans, to pass the Senate. Political reports, many Democrats assumed the GOP would block this legislation, but the two parties appear to be negotiating.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Right. So there is some good that this bill can do before it even gets out the door. Now, the other thing is this bill pushes for public education campaigns to help potential victims know how to report incidents. Advocates say underreporting is a huge issue. Researchers at AAPI data say only about a third of Asian Americans feel comfortable reporting incidents of hate crimes to law enforcement.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Professional soccer has had more drama in the past few days than a player faking a foul. It all started on Sunday when some of the best teams in the world decided they were going to break away and create their own league called a Super League.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, the reaction from fans and players came very quickly and pretty negatively. And as of right now, the future of this Super League does not look promising. USA Today has a pretty decent explanation of what went down.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're used to only following U.S. sports, this might be a little confusing. See, over in Europe, the best teams across the continent play every year in what's called the Champions League. Membership in the league isn't guaranteed. Only top-performing clubs make the cut.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, when the owners of more than two dozen of Europe's premier teams announced their plans to withdraw from the Champions League to form their own Super League, they were trying to throw the spirit of this system out the window. The best teams would have permanent spots in this new league. They wouldn't have to qualify. So think of something like the NBA, complete with salary caps for star players.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Fans were livid. One group of Chelsea fans blocked traffic on a bridge before a game. The general consensus was that this was a pure money grab by team owners. After all, what's the incentive to perform well at home if your entrance to the Super League is guaranteed? And what happens to smaller clubs if they no longer had any chance of making it to soccer's main event?
--:-- Shamita Basu: The backlash came from the very top too. The ruling bodies of pro soccer announced that any player who joined the Super League wouldn't be able to represent their country on the international stage. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened legislation to prevent the Super League from even forming. And team managers and players all started to speak out, too.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, by Tuesday, most of the major teams said they were going to pull out of this whole venture. So there you have it. The rise and fall of the Super League lasted a whole two days. It was over before it even began.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Skateboarding is making a comeback. Sales of skateboarding equipment in the U.S. increased 118% last June compared to the previous year. And while the pandemic has a little bit to do with it, it doesn't seem to be the only thing that's driving this revival.
--:-- Shamita Basu: NPR spoke with Jeff Kendall. He used to skate professionally, and he's currently an executive at a top skateboarding manufacturing distributor. He says two factors are pushing people to pick up skateboards. The pandemic pushed a lot of folks outdoors. And social media platforms are making the sport more visible and showing how diverse its athletes are.
--:-- Jeff Kendall: He's specifically noticed girls and women are a big part of skateboarding's renewed popularity.
--:-- Shamita Basu: LaTosha Stone is seeing the same exact thing. She's the founder of the skate brand Proper Gnar. And she says before the pandemic, her business was more of a hobby. But the skate boom in 2020 allowed her to go full time.
--:-- LaTosha Stone: She tells NPR skateboarding used to be a thing that the bad kids did, but now social media has made it more accessible and more inclusive.
--:-- Shamita Basu: NPR is saying TikTok is a big part of skateboarding's revival. If you go on TikTok right now, you're going to find thousands of clips that people are posting of themselves skating and landing all these tricks.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And another sign of skateboarding's rise, it will be included as a sport in the Olympics for the first time this summer.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And while you're there, check out some of our audio stories. We'll talk to you again tomorrow.
