N.A.A.C.P. Leader Says ‘a Few Checks’ Can’t Fix Structural Racism

“There is a responsibility of corporations to ensure that we maintain a stable democracy,” Derrick Johnson said.

Derrick Johnson, the president and chief executive of the N.A.A.C.P., was on the phone with other civil rights leaders on Tuesday afternoon, discussing strategy for how to respond to different possible outcomes in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with murdering George Floyd. But before they could finish, news came that the jury in Minnesota had reached a verdict. Mr. Johnson and the others dropped off the call and waited. An hour later, the judge pronounced Mr. Chauvin guilty on the three charges he faced, including second-degree murder. “When it got to the third guilty, I had a sigh of relief,” Mr. Johnson said. “Because if the verdict would have happened differently, the energy could have been harsh.”