This is America
By LIANN MELENDEZ
Editor-in-Chief
On May 25, 2020, a call was made to 911 in Minneapolis, Minnesota claiming an African American man, George Floyd, paid for a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Shortly after, Floyd was arrested by four Minneapolis police officers. Nine minutes later, Floyd died of asphyxiation under a police officer’s pressing knee. Over two minutes of that time, when the paramedics eventually arrived at the scene, the officer continued to press his knee down onto the neck of an unresponsive Floyd.
A video of the incident was recorded and posted online, quickly gaining the attention of millions. More videos surfaced, all different perspectives showing the moments leading up to Floyd’s death.
It took one day for the four police officers involved in Floyd’s death to be fired. It took two days for the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck to be charged for second degree murder and manslaughter. It took eight days for the other three officers at the scene to be charged for aiding and abetting second degree murder.
Let’s be clear, these moves are not justice.
George Floyd is not the first victim of police brutality, and he is not the first to have died because of it. Nonetheless, there is no doubt his death acted as a catalyst for the protests taking place at this very minute.
All over the country, protestors have shared messages of equality and unity. Both are liberties that unfortunately do not extend to every American, not when privilege exists and often works against people of color.
According to “Understanding White Privilege” by Francis E. Kendall who holds a Ph.D. in Issues of Diversity and White Privilege, white privilege can be defined as “an institutional (rather than personal) set of benefits granted to those of us who, by race, resemble the people who dominate the powerful positions in our institutions” (1). For instance, some of these “benefits” are resources, doors to the future that are accessible simply on the basis of race. Take for example secondary education, in which J.B.W. Tucker’s analysis “The Ultimate White Privilege Statistics & Data” states, “Whites are 78% more likely to be accepted to the same university as equally qualified people of color” (14).
Pay special attention to the words “equally qualified.” Why specifically overlook “equally qualified” people of color in favor of White Americans when they all aim to be educated? In a country where white privilege exists, it’s impossible for the nation to also claim to be equal.
Moreover, in a Racial Wealth Divide report, the data collected between the average wealth of White Americans from 1983 to 2016 showed an increase of $36,824; whereas, the data on African Americans showed a decrease of $3,766. Certainly, there isn’t a decrease in the black community’s work force presence to explain the nearly $4,000 drop in average wealth four years ago.
Last week, NowThis News posted a video to their YouTube channel of a White American falsely accusing an African American of harassment in a call to the police. In their video NowThis News reported, “Black Americans are arrested 2.5x more often than White Americans.”
Considering the data presented, there are clearly systemic racial biases that plague the black community.
Nevertheless, struggle is not limited to any certain race. There is no denying there are many White Americans living in poverty. Even so, to disregard the constant fear most Black Americans live with on a daily basis is selfish and close-minded.
Injustice happens way too often in a country that claims to prioritize the preservation of rights. Rights such as a trial by jury, something George Floyd was not guaranteed when the officer, Derek Chauvin, ignored Floyd’s pleas for air and continued to lean his weight onto Floyd’s neck. Instead of treating Floyd as an innocent, as this country often prides itself on with their ‘everyone is innocent until proven guilty’ ideology, he was cuffed and forced to stay on the ground.
As previously mentioned, Derek Chauvin was eventually charged with murder and manslaughter and arrested for the death of George Floyd. Still, there is room to question about the other three officers who stood by as Floyd cried out, “I can’t breathe.”
Those three officers, who remained supportive of their co-worker while he restrained a motionless George Floyd on the ground, are the epitome of poor bystander behavior.
In Jason Marsh and Dacher Keltner’s article “We are All Bystanders,” we are given basic bystander scenarios, such as, “…when we’ve driven past a car stranded by the side of the road, assuming another driver would pull over to help…We witness a problem, consider some kind of positive action, then respond by doing… nothing” (8). Based on this example, it is hard to ignore the simple truth: We are all bystanders at one point or another.
There is a psychological theory called the bystander effect, it states that during an emergency in which intervention is called for individuals feel less motivated to step in when in the presence of a larger crowd.
Let’s consider the other three officers who were out in broad daylight in the middle of the street, sure they might have felt pressured to carry out an arrest swiftly and effectively. Maybe they thought it was a smart idea to follow Chauvin’s lead, after all he did manage to silence Floyd. Only, his silence was not because of compliance.
How ironic is it that the duty of police officers is to protect the lives and liberties of their community when too often those lines are crossed and distorted?
Demonstrated by Vignesh Radhakrishnan, Sumant Sen, and Naresh Sigaravelu in their academic article “How Badly are African Americans Affected by Police Brutality in the U.S.” police brutality often goes without any severe misconduct or consequences — for the police. In fact, they describe the rates of punishment of police officers involved in off-duty shootings or shootings against unarmed victims, by stating, “In more than 98% (7,564) of the shootings, officers were not charged with any crime” (Radhakrishnan et al. 5).
Campaign Zero, a website meant to share information on police brutality in America, reveals, “In 2014, police killed at least 287 people who were involved in minor offenses and harmless activities” (3).
Like struggling, police brutality is not bound to only one race. However, it is impossible to deny the immense difference in African American treatment by police officers compared to other races in America.
Due to the disparity in the treatment of murder by a black man at the hands of police, protests have broken out not only across America, but around the globe. These protests are not just about Floyd’s death, but also about the injustice that has been ignored for too long. Arresting Chauvin is only one step leading to a bigger cause, and it would be ignorant and delusional to believe his arrest would satisfy protestors.
Unfortunately, violent riots have overshadowed the voices of peaceful protestors.
Yes, Target was looted and a liquor store was burned down. Cars were set on fire and buildings were trashed. Still, it is important to understand the perspective of the rioters, and why they chose destruction to channel their emotions in response to George Floyd’s injustice.
I came across this quote in the YouTube comment section recently, “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.” This African proverb goes a long way in representing the pain these rioters and protestors feel, since for so long people of color have been oppressed and experienced prejudice simply because of race. Americans are tired of it.
Television show host, Trevor Noah, gave reasons for these riots explaining that as a nation, the people signed a compact establishing common rules and ideologies. This “social contract” acknowledges as a whole that stealing is a crime, that treason is a crime, and that murder is a crime.
Noah continued by stating, “The only reason you didn’t loot Target before was because you were upholding society’s contract. There is no contract if law and people in power don’t uphold their end of it.”
On the other hand, peaceful protestors have come out to voice their concerns and disappointment in rioters. In a Wall Street Journal article “Looters Damage Businesses, Anger Protestors,” a protestor, Tay Anderson, mentions, “‘I am very concerned that they feel like they are doing this on our behalf, and we didn’t ask for it’” (Frosch, McWhirter, and Chapman 11).
More and more videos have surfaced during the ongoing demonstrations of protestors preventing people from looting — literally standing between them and the doors of stores.
To put it simply, destruction does not represent the cause of these protests. Nor does it bring positive attention to these protests, not when so many news channels focus on danger and violence rather than peaceful protestors dancing to the “Cupid Shuffle” or police officers who walk in solidarity with the protestors.
As these protests continue, we must remember that America was founded on unfair ideals and fundamentals, with The Declaration of Independence stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” However, at the time people of color and women were anything but equal. It wasn’t until 1869 that black men gained the right to vote — nearly 100 years after our nation was founded. Plus, it took 51 years for women to finally receive the same right, though they had to fight for over a decade to be permitted to cast their vote.
Do people of color have to fight for over a decade to be heard and to make change happen, especially when they supposedly gained equality in 1972 with the passing of the Equal Rights Amendments?
We have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but I’ve come to the realization that fear, hate, and intolerance are the only obstacles obstructing our way to those goals.
In elementary school, I had a wonderful school counselor who made it her mission to share the values of kindness and compassion. She taught us basic words in sign language, so that we learned to extend our welcomes to those who were different from us. She taught us that being a bystander was just as bad as being a bully. She also taught us to not simply see a bully for a bully, but rather to understand their pain masked by violence or cruel words.
It is important, as students and young adults, to stay educated. Attending a school as culturally and racially diverse as Lebanon High School, it is even more important to recognize the injustice in America.
Today at noon, peaceful protests will be held in front of the municipal building on S. 8th Street in Lebanon. If you have listened to other protestors and educated yourself on these recent events, it is understandable for you to feel sad, frustrated, or vengeful. Regardless of how strong these emotions are, it is crucial that you channel them into peaceful protests.
To get the words of unity, equality, and justice to be heard, you need to let peaceful actions speak louder than destructive behavior that only succeeds in dividing the nation further.
Change is the only constant in our lives, and it needs to happen now, not in a decade, not when equal rights are on the line for people of color in America. How will you allow your voice to be heard?
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