On Monday, May 25th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an African American male by the name of George Floyd lost his life. He lost his life at the hands of a white officer by the name of Derek Chauvin during an altercation where the officer had Floyd in the street on his chest as he put Floyd\’s hands behind his back to handcuff him. Floyd complied, but officer Chauvin felt that the restraint of the cuffs simply wasn’t enough. As three other cop idly stood by and did absolutely nothing, Officer Chauvin placed and pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd continuously stated he could not breathe. Floyd was taken to the hospital where he later passed away.
Since George Floyd’s death, there have been protests in Minnesota which later led to rioting and looting. There have been a number of innocent civilians and businesses—black-owned and others—affected by this. The protesting/rioting has not only occurred in Minneapolis, but in other major cities across the nation from San Jose, to New York City, to Atlanta, to Baltimore, and the nation’s capital- Washington D.C. People want to make sure that George Floyd and his family gets the justice that is rightfully deserved.
It’s not just Floyd, it’s much bigger than him. George Floyd was only one of the long list of African Americans who have lost their lives at the feet of police officials; police officials that have taken an oath to keep lawful order and protect citizens from violence, yet are quick to fear for their lives when they are in the presence of someone who is Black. They are quick to falsely accuse and let the pleading words of Black people fall on their deaf ears. They are quick to approach us aggressively and later say it was self-defense.
Why?
Because the issue is and always has been racism. White supremacy is real. White privilege is real.
See, the ideology of racism and the practice of ethnic domination was constructed by the majority against the minority; therefore, IT IS the majority’s job to put an end to these beliefs/practices and break these sick and malicious chains. Racism is America’s biggest issue. I mean we’re supposedly in debt too, but that’s a completely different topic. It is sad, that after fighting for something and because of something that has been taking place for 400 years now, America is still stuck, it’s still stagnant in the same old ideologies and is stuck with an ill curse placed upon this nation.
This is not just a Black people\’s problem. If you are of other races and you have Black friends, if you appreciate Black culture, if you support TRUE AND PURE EQUALITY, if you call yourself an AMERICAN then this is YOUR problem as well!
SPEAK the truth! Use hashtags! PROTECT one another and be strategic when protesting! READ!
If you’re in a privileged group, and you want to help oppressed people, one of the best things to do is teach other people in your privileged group. Oppressed people don’t have the time or energy to teach everyone about what we go through ESPECIALLY if it’s out in the open!
True colors of people are being shown and I can only hope that at some point a lot of right comes out of the wrong that\’s unlawfully being done.
For a while, there’s been a fire. The smoke has filled the lungs while the flames have been hot and in the faces of so many people.
This is the inferno.
#BlackLivesMatter