Black Lives Matter

Around the world the name George Floyd has been on everyone’s tongue. On Monday, 25 May the 46-year-old African American man was arrested after allegedly attempting to use a suspected counterfeit $20.00 bill. Floyd was ordered to exit his vehicle by four police officers; police claim Floyd “physically resisted”, refuted by surveillance camera footage, and “struggled with police”. Videos from witnesses show Floyd repeating “I can’t breathe,”, “Please”, “Don’t kill me.”

George Floyd died. According to the criminal complaint Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes including almost three minutes after Floyd became unresponsive.

The reaction to George Floyd’s death is not only an amalgamation of anger against police brutality, which has been building for years, but also a response to the lack of repercussions for the police officers involved. There have now been consequences, but many protesters are demanding more. 

All four officers were fired and, three days after Floyd’s death, Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. 

George Floyd’s death – and the response to the police officers involved – has sparked protests across the US. However, the violent chaos spreading out of Minneapolis was not a reaction to Floyd alone. 

“Inequality is as dear to the American heart as liberty itself.” William Dean Howells.

The United States of America was built on racism. The land was stolen and an entire culture was forcibly displaced. The trans-Atlantic slave trade was the foundation of the American economy – agriculture relied on slave labour. Racial segregation under law was abolished just over 55 years ago. More recently police brutality has disproportionally affected racial minorities. 

As of the 28 May 2020, 4 728 people had been killed in police shootings in the USA since 1 January 2015. According to a Washington Post analysis, African Americans are disproportionally represented in this figure. White Americans had almost twice the total deaths but, when compared by deaths per million (the ratio of deaths by police shooting to the population in millions), the figure for White Americans was 12, compared to 30 for Black Americans. 

“A riot is the language of the unheard.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Protests began shortly after Floyd died in Minneapolis and have spread to cities across the US, making it to within metres of the White House.

Many of the protesters are peaceful, taking part to make their voice heard and take a stand. Marches and signs are a good way to convey a strong message while – at most – inconveniencing others. However, there are roving groups of opportunistic looters in many cities in the US. 

Stores are being looted, vehicles and property destroyed, whether by well-intentioned advocators or self-serving lawbreakers. Is there a better way to handle this? Probably. But a civil discussion is only possible when both sides come to the table. 

Peaceful protests have occurred for years, some in the form of marches and others as personal expressions, such as opting to remain seated for the national anthem. “Taking a knee” during the national anthem is entirely peaceful and affects no one else (unlike a march which could slow traffic), and yet it has received overwhelming criticism, even condemnation, as “disrespecting veterans who fought for this country” (mostly from non-veterans, as returned servicemen and women tend to support the gesture of protest). 

For centuries the peaceful action of racial minorities has done little; it is decisive actions that have brought change. Action brings attention and opens to door for communication and, eventually, resolution. 

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Martin Luther King Jr. 

There is a lot of criticism for the protesters, accusing those involved of “destroying their own community” and calls that “violence is not the answer”. However, there is video evidence readily available of police brutality in dealing with protesters (and random uninvolved bystanders). People simply out for groceries are shot in the head with rubber bullets, children are sprayed with tear gas, news reporters are arrested for doing their jobs. There is violence on both sides. 

Additionally, there have been widespread rumours of undercover police involvement in protests, creating the beginning of violence to allow violence in return. I do not endorse these statements, because there is little proof available and I am not entirely cynical, but I have chosen to include at least a mention in the interest of completeness. 

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Some protesters are advocating against police, criticising the lack of action. Others feel that the stand against police officers is unjust and that a few bad apples are not a reason to hate an entire profession. Officers at the riots have shown their support by kneeling or standing in solidarity, and police chiefs across America have taken a stand against the actions of the officers involved in Floyd’s death. 

Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown said in a statement: "What took place in Minneapolis earlier this week is reprehensible and tarnishes the badge nationwide, including here in Chicago."

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a statement: "What we saw in Minnesota was deeply disturbing. It was wrong."

For some, these messages of support for Floyd and condemnation of the officers involved is too little too late. 

Police in the US are using non-lethal weapons to clear riots, but some are accusing them of “using non-lethal weapons in a lethal manner”. Tear gas to the face and rubber bullets to the head are not the approach which should be taken toward peaceful protesters. Bystanders are also sustaining injuries, for example, uninvolved citizens out to get groceries shot with a rubber bullet mere centimetres from an eye. News reporters have been arrested when reporting from the scene. Residents shot at without warning, on their own property. 

“Racism isn’t getting worse, it’s getting filmed.” Will Smith.

The most devastating element of George Floyd’s death is that we’ve seen this before. 

Botham Jean, a black man, was fatally shot while unarmed in his apartment by white, off-duty police officer Amber Guyer, who thought the apartment was her own. 

Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed African American man, was shot 12 times by police in September 2013. Ferrell was involved in a car accident, walked to a nearby neighbourhood and knocked on the door; the resident called the police who fatally shot Ferrell as he ran toward them.

Stephon Clark, a black American, was shot eight times (six in the back) by police officers believing he was pointing a gun at them. Only a mobile phone was found on his body. 

Terence Crutcher, a black man, was shot and killed by police officer Betty Jo Shelby in September 2016, while standing in the street next to his vehicle. 

Clifford Glover, a black American, was 10 years old when he was fatally shot by on-duty, undercover police officer Thomas Shea in April 1973. 

These incidents took five minutes to find and dozens of others were also listed. The riots occurring in America right now are the result of a powder keg which has been building for decades. 

So why now?

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane” Martin Luther King Jr. 

Most recently, the coronavirus has highlighted inherent inequalities. Poorer members of communities around the globe have been disproportionally affected, with millions filing for unemployment, households unable to put food on the table, and workers who rely on their paycheque to make ends meet forced to go into work in unsafe conditions or lose their jobs. 

In the US, black Americans have been disproportionally infected. Many states have not been reporting race when documenting infections and statistics are preliminary, but the evidence is there. 

Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago, announced African-American citizens account for more than half of those who have tested positive and 72% of virus-related fatalities in Chicago, even though they make up a little less than a third of the population.

The racial disparity in COVID-19 infections can be explained by inequalities in the fundamental structure of American society. Black Americans are overly represented in the workforce unable to work from home (exposing them to risk at work and in transit), less likely to be insured, more likely to have pre-existing health conditions, more likely to face racial bias which prevents receiving proper treatment or referrals when symptoms present. 

This is not unique to the US. Closer to home, some regions of WA will remain closed because Indigenous Australians living in remote communities are more vulnerable to coronavirus. And the concerns aren’t all medical; especially in the early days of the coronavirus, it provided an excuse for racist remarks against Australians of Asian ethnicity to the point that a Chinese man died in Chinatown in Sydney after bystanders refused to give CPR due to coronavirus fears. 

COVID-19 hasn’t created much in the way of new inequalities; it has merely widened the gap and highlighted the consequences of those which already exist.

Coronavirus has also added a layer to the protests occurring in the US, with demonstrators flouting social distancing guidelines. In Australia, we have (hopefully) ridden out the storm, but the US is still facing around 20 000 new cases every day. 

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.” Martin Luther King Jr. 

One question on a lot of minds, is how has the Trump presidency contributed to this situation?

President Trump has shown his true colours in recent publicity, with tweets such as “thugs”, “vicious dogs” and “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” appearing. 

(It should be noted that when speaking about those protesting the state-imposed quarantine restrictions in America, President Trump was far less critical, saying “These are people expressing their views. I see who they are and I see the way they are working. They seem to be very responsible people to me. They’ve been treated, a little bit rough.”)

What America (and the world) needs now, is someone to rally behind, to come together for all our best interests.

As Doris Kearns Goodwin, an American biographer and political commentator, said when she quoted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speechwriter, “Robert Sherwood said something like most of the time a president can just be that portrait in a box. But then when something occurs, he has to come out of that box and connect to the people.”

Unfortunately, we seem to be out of luck.

Trump has fumbled his way through the COVID-19 pandemic, not only ignoring health professionals’ advice but going so far as to suggest injecting bleach. However, as the only POTUS ever with no political or military experience, we really should have seen this coming.

On 1 June, Trump gave a speech condemning the protesters. The speech brought up some good ideals about coming together as one country, advocating for “creation not destruction, cooperation not contempt, security not anarchy, healing not hatred, justice not chaos.” Then he did a 180 and threatened “an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” and that, if necessary, he will “deploy the United States military, and quickly solve the problem for them.” Mr Trump did not address the reason for the protests – there was no mention of action against police brutality to prevent innocent deaths in the future. 

Police forcibly cleared a path through the crowd of protesters to allow a photoshoot with a bible in front of the nearby church. Mr Trump did not enter the church.

“It's not a comfortable thing to talk about... Once we talk about it, see what it's like, then we can self-regulate and say, “That's not right”.” Adam Goodes.

We in Australia, watching from afar, cannot call ourselves innocent. In response to peaceful protests in Sydney, Scott Morrison said "There's no need to import things happening in other countries here to Australia." 

Indigenous Australians make up only 2% of the population, but 27% of incarcerated Australians. The land we live on was stolen from its original owners, and land rights battles continue in resource-rich regions of the country. Thousands of Indigenous Australians were massacred by colonisers, one notable example is the ‘Black War’ in Tasmania. 

Police brutality is here too, but so are the protests. Many members of our community (including All Saints’ students and Old Saints) were involved in the recent demonstrations in Perth CBD, advocating for racial equality and likening George Floyd’s death to the hundreds of deaths of Indigenous Australians in custody over the last two decades. 

The “Change the Date” debate here is just one more example of a divided Australia – both sides can make good arguments, but it often feels like only one is willing to listen, or to try to make a change (be it the date or what Australia Day stands for). 

When remarking on the situation the US, Australians cannot claim any moral superiority. 

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through conscientious struggle.” Martin Luther King Jr. 

What can you do? There are petitions and donation pages every two seconds all over the internet (just take a moment to make sure you know what you’re signing) and, for an issue like this, the best thing we can do is raise awareness. You can also educate yourself and others, and support Indigenous Australians by buying direct from Indigenous creators. Take this opportunity to create and implement constructive solutions to global injustices. 

Do not be a bystander. Your voice is one more reason for world leaders to act, and with every single person who takes a stand, we are harder to ignore.  

Lexie O'Brien (Year 12)