“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.”
Immanuel Kant
Last famous words, asking for sympathy but none was given. In eight minutes and forty six seconds, the life of Mr. George Floyd was snuffed out of him, captured on a video by a concerned bystander. According to Wikipedia, the last person publicly executed in the U.S. was Rainey Bethea (also a black person) on August 14, 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky for raping a 70-year old woman. Public executions in the early years were allowed as a form of deterrence. Attendance at such events was encouraged and sometimes mandatory. This time the public execution of Mr. Floyd was displayed all over the world, including in the privacy of our homes, whether we liked it or not. How could this happen? Mr. Floyd wasn’t convicted of the crime yet. He was only accused of passing a fake $20 bill. But the white policeman decided in his callous mind to become the judge and executioner at the same time. It was a brazen act, unafraid of any consequence because of the uniform he wore. He believed his action was “legally” justified, so the more Mr. Floyd pleaded for mercy, the more the white officer applied greater force on Mr. Floyd’s neck while nonchalantly putting his left hand in his pant pocket. It is difficult and heart-wrenching to watch!
We are all guilty of biased assumptions. We easily judge everything with first impressions. Not that they are natural; no, they are learned and ingrained then get pass on the next generation. As one of the biases, overt racism started when white people realized the cultural superiority of their race through colonization. Every new island they discovered in the New World, the inhabitants were nothing but savages. So it’s their divine mission to “civilize” these primitives. They even came out with scientific studies to confirm that there existed empirical evidence to categorize human races as either superior or inferior. They used anthropology, anthropometry, craniometry, and other pseudo-disciplines to argue their points. White superiority begot white power begot white supremacy begot white privilege and the vicious circle kept humming along to exclude the “others,” especially black people. Entrenchment followed in the form of apartheid in South Africa and the Jim Crow laws in the United States. How could the U.S. Supreme Court, with all the brilliant, legal minds abound, came out with the legal doctrine of “separate but equal” was beyond me? Where was justice when it was supposed to be colour blind? After years and years of atrocious consequences to the black people, these two discriminatory laws were finally repealed.
Although slavery was prevalent in ancient times, it became legally acceptable during colonial times because of its economic benefits. According to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, there were 12.5 million Africans shipped to the New World between 1525 and 1866. Of that, 10.7 million survived the sea passage and disembarked in North America, the Caribbean and South America. Then people started to acknowledge the cruel and inhuman effects of the trade slaves. Countries after countries, they abolished the practice at their own enlightened pace. But in U.S., it took a Civil War to settle the issue. It’s good the abolitionists won and in December 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified finally abolishing slavery. But the deep wound of that loss kept black racism alive, especially for the pro-slavers and white supremacists. Though the black people live better now, they are still disproportionately discriminated upon in all aspects in their pursuit of the American dream. Rev. Al Sharpton, in his impassioned eulogy for Mr. Floyd on June 4, said: “When I stood at that spot, the reason it got to me is that George Floyd’s story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck. What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in health services and in every area of American life.”
I am not immune to racism. But like all people striving to do the right thing and letting the “better angel” of our nature dominate our flawed character, I try to supress my racist attitude. But sometimes I get in a situation where I remain “complicit in silence.” One time, while resting after playing doubles tennis, we came to the topic of Serena Williams winning another title. Of course, the muscled physique of Serena was always singled out as the main factor why she was so dominant. Then one player compared her to a silverback and thought that was a great joke. I didn’t join in the laughter, think it was not nice and yet remained quiet. That moment stayed with me and when I recall it, I feel very ashamed of myself.
Then perhaps a chance for redemption. Drew Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints and possible Hall-of-Famer, apologized for his insensitive comment about never agreeing with anybody disrespecting the U.S. flag by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem, that he’d rather be part of the problem. Though his apology seemed sincere, I still felt he was forced to make it because of the pushbacks he was getting that might turn ugly for himself and his family. So I was thinking of writing a comment (with the title, Is Drew Brees’s apology enough?) and sending it to Toronto Star. But in his response to Trump’s tweet, he said: “We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform. We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history! If not now, then when?” This time I thought Drew Brees finally got it and dropped my opinion-writing project.
But the police never seem to get it. In spite of the presence of cameras and cellphones, they are still oblivious and aggressively beating and hurting the protesters. One video that went viral on June 4 caught two Buffalo police officers shoving a 75-year old man, causing him to fall backwards and hitting the pavement. They ignored him while he lay unconscious and bleeding. Then they filed a report that the man tripped during a skirmish with the protesters. Without the video, that lie would be the “official” truth. What was more frustrating about this police conduct was the undying support of 57 officers, refusing to be assigned in the riot squad and clapping in front of the court building when the two officers came out after pleading not guilty to the charge of second-degree assault. They all claimed that the incident was a lawful act of obeying orders, damned whatever injury or bad consequence it might cause.
On March 31, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at the National Cathedral and said: “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Instead it is bending more toward the opposite way. Black people, mostly the young, were summarily killed by the police, including unfounded suspicion, minor infraction, or mere traffic violation. In 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement began on social media in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for shooting African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. But police abuses continue without substantive police reforms in U.S. and other countries, including Canada. Will the death of Mr. Floyd George bring about real reforms now?
What are some of the reforms being called for in policing and the administration of justice? They are: (a) defunding police and transferring the funds to community-based models of safety, support, and prevention; (b) making body cams mandatory; (c) reforming or decertifying police unions; (d) disarming the police just like Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom; (e) reviewing the efficacy of independent police watchdogs, including its composition; (f) banning detrimental police tactics such as chokeholds and kneeing; (g) limiting the “qualified immunity” of police officers; (h) creating a police misconduct registry; (i) revising legislation to make it easier to prosecute officers, who “knowingly or with reckless disregard”, are involved in misconduct; and (k) the long-sought federal anti-lynching bill. How far these proposed changes are adopted, we have to wait and see.
We all have the responsibility to change; not only the police. We should take a hard look in the mirror and change what we can control for the better. Let’s overcome our fear of black people because of their skin. When we eat an apple we enjoy the whole inside with or without skin. Let’s do the same and look at black people in their total humanity. Let’s reject our “Amy Cooper’s” tendencies. She’s the young, white girl who hysterically called 911 and asked the police to come immediately because an African-American was threatening her life. When Christian Cooper, the black man involved in the incident, posted a video that showed a different, non-threatening picture, Amy Cooper apologised yet insisted of saying, “I am not a racist.” Let’s stop denying and making excuses lest we endanger another innocent, black life!
There are two songs by Michael Jackson, which I think, are appropriate to mention here for our own soul-searching. First is the Man in the Mirror, to quote some of its lyrics: “I’m gonna make a change/For once in my life/It’s gonna feel real good/Gonna make a difference/Gonna make it right…If you want to make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself, and then make a change.”
The other is Heal the World: “There’s a place in your heart/And I know that it is love/And this place could be much/Brighter than tomorrow/…Then why do we keep strangling life/Wound this earth, crucify its soul/… There are people dying/If you care enough for the living/Make it a better place/For you and for me.”
Rest in peace Mr. George Floyd. May your last breath be not in vain!
Rey Moreno
Pickering, Ontario
June 18, 2020