Imagine this. It’s a monday evening and you decide to go to the market. Suddenly, you are accused of counterfeit billing, handcuffed and pinned to the ground by the police, and when you resist, you are shot dead.
This is what happened to George Floyd on 25th May, 2020, in the town of Minneapolis in the United States of America, also called “the land of the free and the home of the brave”.
An overview of the facts is as follows:
George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died on Monday after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a police officer’s knee, in an incident that was recorded on video and that incited large protests in Minneapolis.
The explosive footage, recorded by a bystander and shared widely on social media early Tuesday, led to community outrage, an FBI civil rights investigation and the firing of the officer and three colleagues who were also at the scene.
Floyd was a high school sports star who grew up in Houston, Texas. He lived in St. Louis Park, a Minneapolis suburb.
He was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m. Monday at Hennepin County Medical Center, according to the medical examiner.
He grew up in Houston, in a black neighborhood south of downtown known as the 3rd Ward. His friend recalled, “Gentle giant, gentle giant. He was a natural comedian, a life-of-the-party type guy, real easy going.”
He worked at a restaurant in Minneapolis and rented from the owner.
The Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement that officers had responded to a call about a man suspected of forgery. Police said the man was found sitting on top of a blue car and “appeared to be under the influence.”
“He was ordered to step from his car,” the department’s statement said. “After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.”
The gruesome video showed the aftermath of the arrest, with Floyd pleading that he can’t breathe.
The bystander video shows a white Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee into a black man’s neck during an arrest, as the man repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe,” and, “Please, I can’t breathe.”
The video recorded in Minneapolis on Monday shows that after a few minutes, the man, lying face down in the street with his hands cuffed behind his back, becomes silent and motionless; the officer continues to pin the man to the pavement with his knee.
Floyd’s relatives are pushing for murder charges.
Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing Floyd’s family members, said they want to see murder charges filed against the police officers.
“The plan is to make sure these officers are charged with the murder of George Floyd,” Crump said. “When you really think about it, it was nine minutes that he begged for his life while this officer had his knee in his throat, had his knee in his neck.”
These gruesome incidents are common in the african american community and is a testament to the deep rooted racism that still exists in the American society.
Headline after headline, the same story: a black American dead. George Floyd, after a police officer knelt on his neck. Ahmaud Arbery, while on a jog in Georgia. Breonna Taylor, while police raided her Louisville, Kentucky, home.
And the ones before: Eric Garner, who couldn't breathe. Philando Castile, in the car with his girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter. Trayvon Martin, only a boy.
Now, as pandemic rages, African Americans in communities across the country disproportionately devastated by COVID-19 are forced to bear witness to more black deaths. The costs of these deaths ripple. When people of color experience racism, when they repeatedly witness racism, there is a profound emotional toll. Large african american communities face problems getting access to basic resources, live in poverty and face harsh discrimination.
President Donald Trump said the news saddened him, and he is asking the FBI and Justice Department to investigate.
Presidential candidate Joe Biden condemned the attack, and stated, “We have to get to the root of all this.”
‘We shouldn’t be intimidated out of holding people accountable,’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, and said that politicians are scared of ‘political power of police’.
But what can we do at a small level to prevent racial discrimination?
One would think that we do not have the power to make a change, but no matter how small our platform is, we can all have an impact on those around us.
Do not use the “n word” casually in conversation, or sing them in songs. Encourage your friends to not use these derogatory words and stick to politically correct language.
Sign the petition on
https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd
It will take 2 minutes of your time but will make all the difference.
Educate yourself about issues faced by minorities, and acknowledge and respect your privilege. Being apolitical is not a choice, especially in trying times such as these.
I got emotional writing this, and I hope we understand the severity of this situation.
We must strive for change. We must strive for equality. A grassroots movement is possible, and we must ensure that communities around us feel safe and guarded. No one, whether black or white, man or woman, gay or straight, should ever feel scared for walking on the streets.
Life, liberty and personal security is a human right.
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