Racism, it seems, is not going anywhere in North America. On Monday, May 25, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American died in the hospital after a white police officer, knelt down on his neck for several minutes as Floyd moaned and screamed “I can’t breathe.”
Videos of the incident now circulating everywhere on social media, show Floyd pleading with police and apparently going motionless as the officer continues to press on his neck. The incident reportedly took place outside a market where the employers had called in the police about a counterfeit bill. The video has, once again, sparked off a national debate in the US where authorities, including police, have always been accused of racial murders.
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On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the house of Derek Chauvin, the white police officer responsible for Floyd’s death. Chauvin after Floyd’s death, along with the three other involved officers as identified by authorities were fired by Police Chief Medaria Arradondo.
video of Floyd’s death is cruel and disturbing but not at all surprising. It depicts a kind of incident that is periodically repeated in the United States. The question remains whether the officers accused would face any legal consequences in a land where justice is driven by race. Until Sunday, the world had no idea who George Floyd was. Today, we know him and the apathy shown to him and that led to his death. The blotted conscience of the oldest democracy in the world should feel heavy given the hundreds and thousands of George Floyd it has killed.
