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Let's Hope They Don't Want Another Fire
eartbreaking. That is
the best way I can de- scribe re-watching the video of George Floyd being murdered by former Min- neapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin.
I thought I could handle the images they would show during the government's opening statement of Chau- vin's trial on Monday. But I was wrong.
The minute they showed Chauvin smugly kneeling on Floyd's neck I was done. The anger, pain, sadness, all of the emotions that I experi- enced last year when the in- cident first became world news, came rushing back into my mind with a vengeance. And, once again, I found myself thinking about how much I truly wanted to do something harmful to Derek Chauvin.
I know that these aren't the types of thoughts a writer such as myself should be ex- pressing in print. But as a human being and a Black man it's hard to not be af- fected by a display of unwar- ranted brutality being perpetrated against someone whose countenance would have been similar to my own had I been caught up in the same type of desperate situa- tion.
Even though I fully un- derstand the need for a jury
GEORGE FLOYD
DEREK CHAUVIN
trial, because of the impor- tance of law and procedure, I find it hard to imagine what kind of defense Chauvin's team of lawyers could come up with to justify his egre- gious actions? Self defense? Fear of great bodily harm? Those claims would be laughed out of court consid- ering Floyd was handcuffed and on his stomach with two additional officers atop of
him.
I mean, according to the
prosecution, Chauvin threatened to mace one wit- ness who tried to administer first aid to Floyd and con- tinued to keep his knee on Floyd's neck even after the paramedics arrived to the scene. Surely this isn't the type of guy who can be pre- sented to a jury as an individ- ual who did all he could to save Floyd's life?
While the infamous video that sparked global outrage may not constitute the en- tirety of evidence needed to secure a conviction or acquit- tal, it's impossible to dis- count the fact that it, at the very least, shows how one man's soul was forced from its body due to the blatant callousness of another.
Of course, the trial will continue and we will be able to see and hear all of the evi- dence presented, as should be the case in every court proceeding. But, be that as it may, when it's all said and done I don't think it's a stretch to assume that most of the planet expects a cer- tain outcome that will pro- vide justice and closure for Floyd's family.
If that isn't the end result, and somehow Chauvin walks or is found guilty of a much lesser crime, there's no doubt that there will be a re- sponse similar to what we witnessed during the sum- mer of 2020. The only dif- ference being that, this time around, the flames will burn even hotter.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can email Mr. Barr at: cbscribe2@- gmail.com.
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Who Will Speak For Us?
he recent attacks on Asian Americans cannot go on
without the press speaking out against the acts of racism. In fact, we are reminded of the quote by a Ger- man Lutheran minister, Marvin Niemoller, who ini- tially supported and welcomed Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.
In 1934, Niemoller met with Hitler and two protes- tant bishops about the pressure the German State was placing on churches. As a result of that meeting, Niemoller began to see the Nazi State as a dictatorship and began to oppose the State.
In one of his speeches, Niemoller said, “First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – be- cause I was not a socialist. Then, they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then, they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
We believe we cannot quietly acquiesce in the face of blatant racism against any other ethnic group because of our history as victims of racism, which has continued even to today. We know too well that hate is a virus just as deadly as Corona, and we will forever speak out against it wherever it exists.
Had not the members of the Quakers and Jewish faith not spoken out against slavery and helped finance the Civil Rights movement, we dare say slavery would have existed much longer and we may still have been in the midst of the Civil Rights movement.
Just as Black Americans opposed the internment of Japanese immigrants and citizens in interment camps in the early 1940s, we oppose the mistreatment and at- tacks on Asian Americans today because of intolerance and blame placed on them for the Coronavirus.
In case you weren’t aware, hate attacks on African Americans have increased over the past four years. If we don’t speak up now for others, who will be left to speak up for us when white hate groups target Blacks again?
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