When you truly examine the Floyd protests, both civil and violent, you begin to unravel a truly dark and insidious side of our collective values. It’s not about the violence, it’s about the timing.
At the time of this posting, there are protests occurring in major cities across America. From civil unrest, marches, to looting, we’ve seen a cornucopia of outrage about the death of George Floyd at the hands, or rather the knee, of a white cop. For me, it’s about the “why didn’t this happen earlier” questions that truly give me pause, which is the sole purpose of this article and why the collective conscious of American’s society is in deep peril.
Why didn’t this happen earlier when a poor white person was killed by a black cop?
This is the obvious question that’s getting passed around various social media platforms, as well as IRL (In Real Life) conversations. I could get into the double-standards, but that would be ridiculous as, I hope, they would be obvious.
It does bring up a point of the hidden racism that is occurring – that, in this instance, the death of a black man at the hands of a white cop, is more valuable than the other way around.
This area of debate is quickly denounced as fill-in-the-blank-‘ism by those that want to keep the conversation on themselves and their point that have already been painfully made time and time again.
Why didn’t this happen earlier when other poor black persons was killed by other white cops?
This is the question that truly gave me pause, and it should do the same to you as well.
The death of a black man at the hands of a white cop is not new. It’s been happening throughout the decades of our country since we’ve had our modern news media, heightened by our social media ecosystems. The local news outlets have, in their various publications and programming, reported stories of black men being killed by white cops in various situations. All we have to do is search various news outlets in major cities and read/listen.
But we, for the most part, didn’t lose a step in our lives. We have access to so much information and news sources, that none of us truly have any excuse to claim ignorance. We didn’t create a hashtag, a group, a long post calling out whitey, or anything else we are seeing now.
This is where it gets dark.
Why didn’t this happen earlier? Was it the method of death that was wrong?
Black persons get shot by white cops every week, and the last time outrage like this happened was in Ferguson, MO. Even though this wasn’t the first incident of this type of death, it was, none the less, picked up by the major news outlets and our President (Obama) at the time. We saw news anchors raise their hands on CNN saying “hands up, don’t shoot” parade past our TV and computer screens. We witnessed protests that happened in Ferguson, as well as others places, that are similar to the things we are seeing now.
But the events of Ferguson happened several years ago and shootings of black people by white cops went on with no more protests, reports by the major news industries, or social media.
Then comes George Floyd and the knee-on-the-neck death – then the protests began.
When you take a sobering look into this new level of darkness, one has to conclude that we were never appalled at racism or the subjugation and death of a poor black man by a white cop. We were never appalled at the loss of life, but the method of execution. If Mr. Floyd had been shot, we wouldn’t have heard a peep out of anyone except his family.
But he wasn’t shot, he lost his life in a “new way,” and that’s what drew the news anchors and social media sharks to the blood in the water – the method of execution, not the loss of life. Obama once said, and rightfully so, that “if it bleeds, it leads.”
Now, we get real dark…
Why didn’t this happen earlier?
Al Jazeera America reports that the citizens of the EU are appalled at the death of George Floyd. We see the re-birth (in some areas of social media) of #BlackLivesMatter, and the long posts, followed by short memes that endeavor to raise America’s awareness of the “systemic racism” that plagues this great nation.
…but nothing before…
…only silence, from everyone…
It’s true, there are a few individuals who keep the obvious examples of racism alive and bring it to the light of our collective conscious – and we need those people. The sad fact is, racism is alive in many parts of our culture, and in far too many instances, it ends up literally destroying a life. People speak up when it suits them and when they can “look good.” People protest when it suits them and when they can be seen by others. People “have conversations” when it suits them and doesn’t get in the way of their lives…
…but this will all end soon.
Conclusion
It comes down to this – collectively, we are not saddened by the death of George Floyd.
This statement will tick the 4 to 5 of you that read this far, but it’s the truth.
The people that are making a big deal about this now through their posts, hashtags, memes, videos, protests (both civil & violent) don’t really care about the death of a man. It’s the method of execution that is the problem. George Floyd’s life gave the collective woke something they always want – a spotlight, a pat on the back, a “like,” and a day off from work.
When you thoroughly examine motives in this situation, it’s the only logical conclusion. Ignorance of other black men/women at the hands of white cops is no longer a variable as Google is available to all and anyone can easily set up a Google alert to notify them of other such forms or racism occurring.
The posts, protest, riots, and “discussions” are all built upon the outward appearance of being “woke to racism,” but soon, people will go back to sleep, as history has proven time and time again.
Until we get to a point where a loss of life – any life- is horrific, we’re mostly following a trend to be cool – the trend of a good citizen.
