George Floyd’s death puts focus on ‘black lives’ and ‘blue lives’
/George Floyd’s death puts focus on ‘Black Lives’ and ‘Blue Lives’
By Robert Foreman
By now, most people have viewed the video of George Floyd face down on the pavement, in broad daylight, with Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee pressed on his neck for nearly nine minutes. During the now infamous video, Floyd can be heard repeatedly stating that he can’t breathe and calling for his late mother. Floyd’s subsequent death led to Chauvin, and the other three officers on the scene, being fired and has sparked protests, riots and debates in Minneapolis, the nation and around the world. Four days after Floyd’s death, former officer Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The charges against Chauvin have since been upgraded to second-degree murder and states that he killed Floyd ‘without intent’. The other three former officers on the scene, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Keung and Tou Thao, were all subsequently arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
As a black male, and more importantly a human being, watching the video made me sick to my stomach, especially after watching the Ahmaud Arbery video in which he was murdered, in broad daylight, while jogging. In both cases, it was a death that did not need to happen. Floyd was clearly subdued so there was no reason for Chauvin’s knee to be pressed on his neck for as long as it was. In fact, Floyd’s pleas about not being able to breathe should have prompted Chauvin to remove his knee or for one of the other three officers to intervene. Yet, neither of those things happened, which is what has brought us to where we are presently.
Now, I’ll be the first to say that I have never understood rioting or looting as part of a protest because it only harms the people in that community with lost jobs and businesses. Additionally, it allows the media, and others, to take the focus away from the issues that are being protested. But, with that said, I understand the frustration and anger that fuels those riots. If you are part of a community that has faced countless injustices, and you feel that your concerns are being diminished, or worse yet ignored, then you get angry. Although I find it ironic that the same individuals who are now saying that people should be protesting peacefully were the same ones that ridiculed the peaceful protests that NFL players were making by taking a knee during the national anthem. People have to make up their minds about what type of protests they consider acceptable. Although I suspect that some would prefer that poor and marginalized people not protest at all and just remain quiet.
In the aftermath of Floyd’s death, the spotlight has again been focused on the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. I’ve lost count of how many times I have had to debate with people regarding ‘Black Lives Matter.’ What I try to explain to them is that if one black person kills another black person, under circumstances that aren’t self-defense, then the black person who did the killing is likely going to be convicted for murder or manslaughter. On the other hand, if a rogue officer or non-black civilian, such as the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery, kills a black person, under circumstances that aren’t self-defense, then history has shown, multiple times, that they likely aren’t going to be convicted for murder or manslaughter. So, when people say ‘All Lives Matter’ in response to ‘Black Lives Matter’ they are missing the point. ‘Black Lives Matter’ isn’t claiming that black lives matter more than anybody else’s life. It’s stating that black lives should matter just as much as everyone else’s life in the eyes of society and the justice system.
In the midst of the current unrest, there are those in law enforcement who understandably fear that they may now become targets for retaliation by protestors who are angry over Floyd’s death. Law enforcement already comes with its own daily dangers and officers don’t want to have to worry that they will be potentially maimed, or killed, over an incident that they had nothing to do with. That fear is very real when one remembers the 2014 deaths of Officer Rafael Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu. Both men were NYPD officers who were shot and killed by Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley. The shootings were Brinsley’s revenge for the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown who were both killed during encounters with the police. The ‘Blue Lives Matter’ movement grew out of the frustration that some in law enforcement saw as a bias toward law enforcement and was a response to ‘Black Lives Matter’. However, since Floyd’s death we have seen multiple incidents of officers either posting videos to social media to express outrage over Floyd’s murder or, in some cases, choosing to engage and stand with the peaceful protestors.
Yet, despite all of the protests and debates, at the end of the day, murder is murder, regardless of the color of the victim or the perpetrator. On a personal note, my friend, Luke, who was a black male in his 20’s, was murdered by young black men last month. He was sitting in his car, in front of his house, after getting off of work when the young men begin shooting into his car and hitting him with multiple bullets. It ultimately turned out that they killed Luke because they thought that he was someone else, so it was a case of mistaken identity. The same anger that I feel toward those men that killed Luke is the same anger that I feel toward Chauvin. Once again, murder is murder, regardless of skin color.
Yet, what frustrates a lot of black people is that when a black person is killed by a rogue officer, or a non-black civilian, under circumstances that are deemed controversial some people tend to blame the victim…even if there is video evidence to support the crime. It is either ‘let’s not rush to judgement’ or ‘we need to see more video’ or the focus shifts to black-on-black crime statistics. Yet, if a black person kills an officer, or non-black civilian, and there is video evidence to support the crime there is no question of the black person’s guilt. And there is usually no mention of professional or racial death statistics regarding the person that the black person murdered in an effort to change the conversation or blame the victim. The focus remains on the crime. So, for many black people, that is the essence of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement; don’t view us as the victim of a crime ONLY when the perpetrator is another black person.
The future remains uncertain regarding whether Chauvin, or the other three former officers, will be convicted, found not guilty or the charges dropped completely. However, the protests, riots and debates have, once again, brought both the ugly racism, and our shared humanity, to the forefront. For me, I will NEVER expect my white friends to feel guilty, or apologize, for the racist/criminal actions of some white people because it is not their fault. I will NEVER expect my friends who are cops and corrections officers to feel guilty, or apologize, for the racist/criminal acts of some in their profession because it is not their fault. Just as I will NEVER feel guilty, or apologize, for the racist/criminal acts of some black people because it is not my fault.
As a people, and as a society, we have to get away from painting entire groups, or professions, with a broad brush based solely on stereotypes and media perceptions. Because once we start trying to decide which life has more value based off of race, or profession, then we begin to lose sight of our common humanity. Bottom line, we have to be ‘ride or die’ as a society and as a nation. The only way to correct our ‘imperfect union’ is to work together to fix it. If not, we will all watch it fall apart separately and there are no winners in that scenario. George Floyd’s six-year-old daughter stated that ‘Daddy changed the world!’ For all of our sakes, let’s hope that she was right.
