Racial Injustice 2020

In the year 2020, a sensitive set of events occurred that shook nations, touched the hearts of many, and inspired a lot of hate. On May 25, an African-American man by the name of George Floyd died in Minnesota, USA as a Caucasian police officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. Protests broke out in hundreds of cities across the United States. Riots followed causing the looting of many businesses and the burning of police stations. People were enraged. Society was divided; many felt that there was too much emphasis being placed on the death of George Floyd.

George Floyd has been the only news talked about at length in almost all news channels, across all news networks impacting thousands of lives in the span of a few days. Demonstrators in Germany, UK, Canada, and other countries have marched through streets and gathered at embassies.

Racism is not a thing of the past. It is present in society today. A study came to light in 2018, with the number of victims of race-based violence at 2,426 for African-Americans alone. The U.S. has numerous incidents of racial injustice and hate crimes that continue to go unaddressed and even forgotten by many citizens. Those who share this view feel that the death of George Floyd is a symbol to show racial hate in America. Some believe that a reason for his death to have been so huge is because George Floyd was a popular activist and was known by some celebrities as well. There have been many other deaths resulting from racial injustice, yet news of those deaths are drowned in the media and forgotten. What about Ahmaud Arbery who died in February or Breonna Taylor who was shot eight times in her sleep days before the death of George Floyd?

The Black Lives Matter movement seems to have been centered on George Floyd alone. Across the world, riots and protests sparked in his name. Action in the George Floyd case was finally taken and four arrests were made. But what about the seven other African-Americans that died in the same month? Where is their justice?

While the death of George Floyd certainly is a heart-breaking incident, it shouldn’t overshadow the plight of many others who face racism in their day-to-day lives. George Floyd was not the only one who died of racial injustice. Thousands did.

Originally published at https://internautofgenz.blogspot.com on June 10, 2020.