George Floyd

Who Was He? What happened? Is this new or history?

?Is Racism in America the New Pandemic?

   We all might be aware of the man in news - the man who opened the eyes of many, the man who caused one of the most massive protests in American history. George Perry Floyd was an Afro-American, who was born in October 14, 1973 and died in May 25, 2020. He grew up in Texas and spent his early life studying in Yates High School and playing for the football and basketball team. He faced many challenges in his youth, went to jail for at least 5 times in charge for drug possession, theft, criminal trespassing, aggravated robbery as well as entering a woman’s home and pointing a gun at her stomach while looking for drugs and money. And, if we take an overview of George’s life as per court documents, it reads him to be like a criminal in his career. When he was released from jail, he came to Minneapolis looking for a job and served as a truck driver and then a security guard, but lost his job due to the Corona virus pandemic. In April, George Floyd contracted with COVID-19 but showed a swift recovery. On May 25, for using a counterfeit bill to buy cigarettes, the police handcuffed him and pinned him to the floor next to the police car. This incident took place outside Cup Foods Store, and a 17-year old woman witnessed this and took a video of the incident. A police officer named Derek Chauvin put his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. In the last three minutes, he was not breathing and had no pulse, yet police officer Chauvin did not remove his knee off George Floyd’s neck. His last words were “I can’t breathe”. The police officer took his knee off only when he was instructed by the medical staff who was called. This video went viral, and the most disastrous revenge followed.

   The tragic part was not only the death, but the protests that followed. There was a lot of social unrest, because it had become very clear that this was an act of racism. The situation earlier felt normal, but after few days, it became horrifying. People, not only in Minneapolis, not only in America, but all over the world demanded justice. And the case in America grew worse, when silent protests transformed into violent protests, where people burnt down police cars, started throwing items on shops and much more. The violence increased day-by-day, and by May-end, the situation in America was so trembling, that protesters went to the White House, and it became so violent there that the President of United States of America, Mr. Donald J. Trump was forced to go in an underground bunker in the White House. This was last spotted during the attacks of 9/11. People wore t-shirts saying “I can’t breathe”, and held banners saying “Black Lives Matters”, “We want Justice”, “George Floyd was a human” and much more.

   After this event took place, many said and believed that this is a new hoax. However, I personally believe that this is not something new, it has history. We’ve experienced lot of racism in the past, and this brutal incident can be linked to many events in history right from Civil Wars, to the well-known system of Apartheid. Speaking specifically, this event can be linked really closely to the American Civil War, which lasted from 12th April 1861 to 9th April 1865. Most of the civil wars had slavery as their cause, and so did the American Civil War. In US, the blacks (Afro-Americans) were treated poorly, whereas the whites (the European settlers) were given the utmost importance. The blacks were usually avoided, and given limited privileges. They did all the odd jobs, whereas the Whites had a ball of a time living their life. They enjoyed their privileges, did high ranked jobs and were the dominating ones. The Afro-Americans settled in Southern America whereas the Europeans were more prevalent Northern America. After all the unjust and struggles, the blacks came upon issues with the whites, and soon, there was a major conflict between the two sides. After 4 years of conflict, the North won. But, everything was not like normal. Three million blacks were set legally free. The biases had slightly faded, and justice was in sight, but had not arrived. This 159-year old conflict can be definitely linked with George Floyd’s brutal murder. Though many reforms were made for equality, George Floyd was still killed on grounds purely of racism.

   This incident, based on racism, can also be linked to the South African segregation process, Apartheid. This harsh law was enforced when the National Party came to power. They established laws suggesting white supremacy. At this point of time, the status of blacks was completely downgraded. Apartheid was created to maintain white domination and ensure racial segregation. This governed South Africa for 46 years. Apartheid possessed 148 laws. People were classified into 4 classes: white, black, Indian and coloured. No matter on your education, potential, capability and brain, if you were a black, you had limited rights and privileges, but unlimited biases. The blacks, especially the youth, lead many protests. We all might be aware of a famous saying: Every problem has a solution, and Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as the solution. They both lived during this biased time, and had a vision to change. Though Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. were present in geographically different locations, and didn’t work together, but they’d fought for the same cause and they had the same goal, equality. They both played an integral role in global history. Nelson Mandela was an anti-Apartheid revolutionary. Initially, he saw a need to change the system, and took little steps to improve it. Soon, Nelson Mandela had become a widely spread name in South Africa. This gave him more support and a higher chance in succeeding. This acted as a threat to the Whites and the party, and hence, he was sentenced to lifetime jail. Later, people grew restless, and wanted their leader back. Severe protests followed, and thousands were eager to have Mandela back. This grew a lot of domestic and international pressure, and on top of that, there were fears of a massive racial civil war. And no later, President F. W. de Klerk was forced to release him in 1990. He spent 27 years in prison. Mandela didn’t stop the fight. Many negotiations took place, and finally, it was declared that in 1994 the first multiracial elections were to be held. In the elections, Nelson won 60% of the votes, whereas President F. W de Klerk won 20% of the votes. Nelson enforced new laws, and helped in the end of Apartheid. And, talking about Martin Luther King Jr, he was an American Minister and an activist who believed South Africa was home to “the world’s worst racism”. And being born in America, which too was home to racism, he decided to make a remarkable change. Initially, he led public gatherings, and as a spokesperson, he spread awareness. He then told a famous speech by him- I have a dream. This speech spoke about what the world would be like, how he would make the world a better place and what are his dreams and goals are. This speech of his motivated many people. Then, in 1960, he led an American civil rights movement. He is known for his contributions in the civil rights movement, and how he should the world that even the greatest changes can be made by peaceful (non-violent) means. Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

   After reading about the killing of George Floyd, I too developed my own perception. I don’t deny the fact that George Floyd had committed crimes, but such brutal killing on ground of racism is unacceptable. For any crime committed, a person is sent to jail, and not brutally killed because he is black. Now comes the vital question, is racism in America the new pandemic? Well my answer is a NO! I personally believe that racism is an age-old global pandemic impacting the entire world for last so many centuries. A virus eventually dies down because of a vaccine or herd immunity, but it’s been more than 400 years since we have not found a vaccine for racism. Then, there’s another question that how will racism end? Well, I believe that racism is a mindset or an ideology, and these things don’t die down easily. Spreading awareness is not an option either, and that’s too philosophical and not practical, and since 400 years, this solution has showcased only minor results. So, what can we do? The only solution to this is setting an example. And for that, active participation is needed. Once we start intermingling with each other, without discrimination, we will set an example for those who believe in racism. This will help them transform their mindset from division to unity.

-      Arsh Hora