March 2021

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 202 on March 25, 2021, enacting the most sweeping changes to Georgia's election law in decades. Key provisions: criminalized giving food or water to voters waiting in long lines (lines disproportionately longer in Black-majority precincts); cut drop boxes from 94 to 23 statewide; limited weekend early voting hours, directly restricting 'Souls to the Polls' Sunday voting prominent in Black churches; added ID requirements for absentee ballots; empowered the legislature to appoint the State Election Board chair, removing the Secretary of State. The DOJ sued, arguing intentional discrimination against Black voters.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would have banned chokeholds and no-knock warrants at the federal level, ended qualified immunity, and established a national police misconduct registry, passed the House 220-212. Senate negotiations collapsed in September 2021 over the qualified immunity issue. No federal police reform legislation was enacted despite the largest protest movement in American history in 2020.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would have banned chokeholds and no-knock warrants at the federal level, ended qualified immunity for officers, established a national police misconduct registry, and required body cameras, passed the House on March 3, 2021 with a 220-212 vote. Senate negotiations led by Cory Booker and Tim Scott collapsed in September 2021, primarily over the qualified immunity issue. No federal police reform legislation was enacted. The failure represented a significant setback for reform advocates who had hoped the 2020 protest movement's scale would produce legislative change.

On March 16, 2021, Robert Aaron Long shot and killed eight people at three Atlanta-area spas, six of whom were Asian women. The attack occurred amid a documented surge in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Trump's rhetoric about the 'China virus' had been linked to targeting of Asian Americans. The Atlanta killings prompted discussions of solidarity between Black and Asian communities, two groups that had experienced tension but shared experiences of racism and targeted violence. Activists noted that police initially downplayed the racial motivation. The incident prompted the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (signed May 2021).

Robert Aaron Long shot and killed eight people at three Atlanta-area spas on March 16, 2021, six of whom were Asian women. The attack occurred amid a documented surge in anti-Asian hate crimes linked to COVID-19 rhetoric. The killings prompted discussions of solidarity between Black and Asian communities and led to the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act signed May 2021.

On March 22, 2021, Evanston, IL became the first U.S. city to implement a local reparations program, approving $400,000 in home repair grants and down payment assistance for Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969, or their direct descendants, harmed by the city's discriminatory housing policies. The program was funded partly by a local marijuana tax.

On March 22, 2021, Evanston, IL became the first U.S. city to implement a local reparations program, approving $400,000 in home repair grants and down payment assistance for Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969, or their direct descendants, and were harmed by the city's discriminatory housing policies. The program, funded partly by a local marijuana tax, aimed to address documented redlining and urban renewal policies that displaced Black residents. By 2023, California established the first state reparations task force; it recommended payments of over $1.2 million per eligible Black Californian, though the legislature had not passed payments.

Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old Latino boy, was shot and killed by Chicago officer Eric Stillman on March 29, 2021, in the Little Village neighborhood. Body camera footage released in April 2021 showed Toledo appeared to have his empty hands raised when shot. Stillman was not charged. Though Toledo was Latino, his killing intersected with Black Lives Matter protest movements and renewed scrutiny of Chicago Police Department patterns documented in the DOJ's 2017 consent decree finding racist patterns in CPD's use of force against Black and Latino residents.