Currently, a hashtag called #GeorgeFloyd is trending. Who is George Floyd? He is neither a celebrity nor a politician. In fact, he was only a normal person just like anyone of us. Then, why is he at the center of the attention?
On a Monday evening, a shopkeeper was doing their job just like any other day. An African-American man called George Floyd comes in and pays for a product. The shopkeeper thinks it is a forgery and reports to the police. This is neither a common nor a rare case. The problem starts here. When Derek Chauvin, a caucasian officer, came to arrest the man, he used abusive methods which almost lead to the death of George Floyd. The officer was placing his knees over the victim’s neck. This made it hard for the victim to breathe. The victim plead several times that he cannot breathe. However, the police officer continued to choke the victim. When the officer finally released him from pain, he was still and unresponsive. At the moment, several people witnessing the event said, “they just killed him.”
This is a controversial topic especially because of the races of the perpetrator and the victim. In history, or in times not so long ago, this pattern happened repeatedly and quite persistently. Some people believe that this is an incident rooting from racism while others claim that this is just a tragic incident in which the perpetrator happened to be a caucasian and the victim happened to be an African-American.
Whether this is a race-based situation or not, it is clear that this situation is a clear violation of law and an unacceptable death. Thus, the policer and the bystanding officers were fired. However, the police who basically is the criminal, is safely at home, guarded by riot police while the protesters are arrested.
-Written By: Miso Kim