I want to take this post to talk about the George Floyd protests, I think. Like, I completely agree that it's past time that we start actively protesting, but I can't help but wonder, why now? These things have been happening for years. I'm pretty sure deaths by police brutality have hovered around 1,000 every year since they started counting them. And yeah, there's been the constant societal murmur about police brutality and racial disparity, but it's never really been the main point of attention. For the most part, it's been just that - a murmur in the background.
But now, people have finally decided that this needs to be addressed. They've decided that the murmur needs to become a roar, and they've achieved that. I've had tons of people send me info docs or links or petitions or resources to make a change. Pretty much every organization I'm a part of has sent out an email of solidarity. My friends, even, who tend to avoid overly political discussions have talked about - ranted, even - about the protests. That's never happened before, at least in my experience.
So, why now? Why is George Floyd so different?
With the pandemic, there's been this idea that we're all in this together floating around. But I feel that that's not quite true. Black and Latine people are much more likely to get and die from the coronavirus, most likely because they make up most of America's lower class, and therefore can't always afford the healthcare they need. This leads to preexisting conditions, which increase the likelihood of dying from COVID-19. So, obviously, there's been some tension there.
But I don't think that can be the whole story. This pandemic is almost four months old, and people had plenty of opportunities to protest that before now. Police brutality has been going on for much longer.
The murder of George Floyd was a tipping point, I think, because it was different. Most cases of police brutality, including the case of Ahmaud Arbery, have followed a basic pattern. People see a black person, people call the police because said black person looks like a criminal, police get there and shoot. Floyd's case was different.
Floyd was killed over a fake 20 dollar bill. The sheer harmlessness of the crime is a factor, I think. It calls to mind the lawlessness of the early west, the willingness of people to harm each other over the pettiest things. And, through some twisted logic, it's less of a crime than existing. We routinely kill people for existing. We wage wars, we perform hate crimes, we enslave. Harshly punishing people for existing in the state that they do is nothing new, and its become normalized. Killing someone over a fake 20 dollar bill doesn't happen. It's completely absurd; it just. Doesn't. Happen.
But it did.
And then there's the method of the crime. Most acts of police brutality occur through shootings, and that's why it's not seen as as big of a deal. Here in the US of A, shootings have become so normalized. Every time we hear about a mass shooting, horror isn't our first reaction. It's exasperation - oh, another one? Come on. The horror comes, yes, but it's not profound. It's oh that's terrible and then going about our days. But George Floyd? George Floyd was different. He wasn't yet another victim of unwarranted shooting. The people who killed him pinned him to the ground and stole the air from his lungs as he tried to protest. That doesn't happen. Police officers don't asphyxiate people as they plead for their lives. It just. Doesn't. Happen.
But it did.
And that's what confuses us. It's what outrages us, what makes us wonder, did this really warrant death? And it makes us angry that someone thought it did.