The brutal death of George Floyd at the hands
of police is just the latest tragic example of racism in America, a disease
that has plagued this country since its founding.
While tens of thousands of demonstrators across the country are demanding justice, to change the subject President Donald Trump has desperately seized upon pictures of those disproportionate few who are rioting. "I will fight to protect you - I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protestors," Trump said while holding a up bible and standing in front of a church near the White House. He is gambling that the best chance for his struggling reelection campaign is to shift the debate from the long-standing issue of racial injustice to the rioting.
In a call earlier in the day with the nation's governors, Mr. Trump said, "The word is dominate. If you don't dominate your city and state, they're going to walk away with you. And we're doing it in Washington, in DC." Dominate is just the tactic plantation owners used when their slaves got out of line. Speaking at Boston's Faneuil in February 1842, Frederick Douglass said, "My back is scarred by the lash--that I could show you--I could make visible the wounds of this system upon my soul." "This system" has changed very little since. How many African Americans have died brutally at the hands of police, white supremacists, or the KKK since the country's founding?
Those who are afraid of racial equality think African Americans "should know their place." That place often means being confined, trapped deep in the nation's inner cities, or in America's rural areas. Education, healthy food and medical care are unavailable for most. They are highly susceptible to pandemics and police. Police use-of-force is the sixth leading cause of death for young black men according to a 2019 study released by the University of Michigan, Rutgers and Washington University. Young black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than young white men. Use-of-force includes asphyxiation. In the words of George Floyd, "I can't breath."
Former President Barack Obama wrote in an article published in the Medium that "the heightened activism of young people in recent weeks, of every race and every station, makes me hopeful." He added, "If, going forward, we can channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action, then this moment can be a real turning point in our nation’s long journey to live up to our highest ideals."
But how many "turning points" has this country failed to capitalize on in the past? The Founding Fathers declared all men are created equal, but intentionally failed to mention the slaves. More than 600,000 men died during the Civil War, but little changed for African Americans. How many Rodney King, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, or Michael Brown police killings have been turning points in the past?
A majority of Americans think President Trump is a racist, according to a Yahoo News/YourGov poll released June 1. But is President Trump simply the personification of America's struggle with its original sin? He appears incapable of compassion, understanding or empathy. His approach is to mobilize millions of supporters by fanning the flames of hatred and division that have paralyzed the nation's racial progress in the past. He knows that by mobilizing the American military against protestors he will appeal to the country's "law and order" voting constituency.
But how is the death of George Floyd law and order? The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
On Monday George Floyd's brother Terrence called for an end to the violence, saying, "that's not going to bring my brother back at all." Speaking to protestors at the site of his brother's death, he said, "So let's do this another way. Let's stop thinking that our voice don't matter and vote."
Will the death of George Floyd truly be a turning point for America? Does America have the strength, the conviction and the determination to bend the moral arc toward justice for all? Will all of its people be treated equal?
