Remembering George Perry Floyd… and endless others

Bill Knight column for 6-8, 9 or 10, 2020     

Maybe it’s only superficial appearances that suggest that tsk-tsk finger-wagging about property damage is more prominent than public outrage about another black man killed by another white cop, not unlike the optics of more apparent concern about business re-openings than the risks posed to workers and customers in a pandemic of a very contagious virus.

One also can’t help comparing 2016’s sensationalized fury about NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick protesting brutality against African Americans by KNEELING during the national anthem, to the virtual shrugs by too many people at the footage of Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin KNEELING on the neck of unarmed and handcuffed George Floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on Memorial Day, when the 46-year-old African American died of his injuries.

Other recent killings of black Americans show the results of centuries of systemic racism in the United States, where despair over disparity, inequality and injustice gnaw at the soul of the whole nation.

Remember Ahmaud Arbery?

According to data from Mapping Police Violence, last year saw 1,099 Americans killed by police. Blacks (13% of the country’s population) were 24% of those killed. Even where such deaths are obviously not justified, police are rarely charged with a crime, much less convicted.

We can go on – and put names on numbers:

            Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Eric Garner…

Yes, we could go on.

A 577-page poll conducted by Morning Consult May 31 and June 1 shows that a majority of Americans (54%) support the protests that have unleashed unrest in dozens of U.S. communities. (About 22% say they’re opposed.)

In a culture steeped in narcissism, greed and violence, white Americans must mostly listen to the anguished voices, acknowledge the crisis, and bear witness to the daily terrors others bear.

            … Oscar Grant, Freddie Gray, Botham Jean …

We could go on.

Focusing just on selfish looting, misdirected arson, or mindless destruction of retailers, CNN, the AFL-CIO, etc. by demonstrators (or bystanders, or infiltrators) seems to overlook African American targets of police misconduct.

            …Trayvon Martin, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice…

We could go on.

The world cannot remain silent, yet white Americans should also be relatively quiet. too, and concentrate on heeding racism and its consequences, having empathy, and showing solidarity with all parts of our race – the human race – with special attention to black people tragically the most frequent victims of bias and brutality.

            … Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Breonna Taylor …

… and we could go on about untold others.

Ijeoma Oluo, author of 2018’s “So You Want to Talk About Race,” commented, “If you live in this system of white supremacy, you are either fighting the system or you are complicit. There is no neutrality to be had towards systems of injustice. It is not something you can just opt out of.”

We CANNOT go on.