Let George Floyd’s Murder Be a Catalyst for Justice June 2020
Dr. Peaches Henry
Before George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis a week ago, African Americans were already reeling at the shooting of Breonna Taylor in her own bed by police in Kentucky, the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery by a white former police officer and his son in Georgia, and the attempt by a white woman to weaponize the New York Police Department against Christian Cooper. Simultaneously, African Americans were dealing with these events in the midst of a pandemic that is disproportionately killing them. The murder of Floyd was not an isolated incident; it was the latest in a string of horrible anti-Black violence. It is directly related to the
systemic racism that plagues our country at an even more alarming rate than the coronavirus. The African American community—which is defined by people not by geographical borders—has been in a state of emergency long before the first COVID-19 case was brought to light. While we are heart-broken by the violence that we are witnessing and by no means
condone looting and destruction of property, we must focus on the precipitating cause. Americans have taken to the streets across this country out of rage at longstanding police brutality and despair that nothing is being done to end it.
The victims in these cases of anti-Black violence represent an African American Everyman in that every African American knows that he or she could easily be caught up in identical circumstances on any given day. Texas has recently dealt with its own case of an African American man, Botham Jean, being shot and killed in his own home. The Arbery case, especially, hit home with me, because every day my own 25-year-old son jogs in a predominately white neighborhood—his own neighborhood. Each morning I hold my breath as he walks out our front door and only exhale when the door opens to reveal that he has survived his daily jog. Until he returned home because of the pandemic, my son could have encountered the white woman in Central Park, because he is a law student in New York.
When Amy Cooper attempted to weaponize the New York Police Department against Christian Cooper (no relation), she knew exactly what she was doing. When Christian Cooper insisted that Amy Cooper leash her dog according to the ordinances of Central Park, she refused an
deployed her white privilege to subjugate him. Outraged by his refusal to submit (to the point of forgetting that she was being videotaped), she married her racism to the systemic racism that she depended on to suppress this African American man who refused to bow to her privilege. Her threat—“I’m going to tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life”—encapsulates the state of race in America. She reveled in the racial power that she leveraged against that Black man. She had every expectation that her racist call identifying her “attacker” as an African American would receive a corresponding response from law
enforcement. This situation could have ended in the death of Christian Cooper, and Amy Cooper knew that. Thus, Floyd’s murder was salt poured on an already open and festering wound for African Americans.
Let me be clear. Protestors have not claimed George Floyd as a hero or a martyr. When he left home on May 31, Floyd did not intend to be slain by a police officer and become a figure in the latest episode of the never-ending saga of police brutality. It was the police who forced African Americans to add yet another name to that list of notable Black deaths. No, Floyd is neither a hero nor a martyr to African Americans. He is a symbol of the precariousness of Black life in America. He is a reminder of how easily many pivot from the hideous taking of a man’s life to handwringing over property damage.
Thus, Floyd’s murder was the latest piece in the patchwork quilt of African Americans brutalized or killed by law enforcement officers who rarely face consequences for their actions. The brutality displayed by Derek Chauvin as Floyd pleaded for relief for eight minutes and forty-seven seconds is heart-wrenching to watch. To hear that man wail for his mother was so deeply
disturbing. Whether or not you are an African American mother, you can respond to the call of a child for his mother in all desperation. That call should have touched every mother’s heart. The disregard for Floyd’s life present in the demeanor of not only Chauvin but all the officers present
should enrage every American. What is more maddening, however, is that Chauvin had received 18 complaints and was still on the job. This is the injustice that drives African Americans to despair, rage, and the streets. Chauvin and the other officers should be charged, convicted, and
sentenced for the wanton killing of Floyd. However, these officers are only a part of the greater problem we must acknowledge and rectify. We must redress the systemic racism that led to this tragedy.
I was pleased to see the multi-generational, multi-racial group that peacefully protested at the two rallies held in Waco. As Common says, “No one can win the war individually / It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy.” De’Viar Woodson consulted with the Waco
NAACP and then organized and led a powerful event. I am proud of him and the other young Wacoans who helped him. They are continuing the work begun by activists of past generations. It is worth remembering that Martin Luther King was just twenty-six when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. College students began the lunch counter sit-ins sometimes against
their parents’ and professors’ wishes. John Lewis was nineteen when he and twelve Black and Caucasian students became the first Freedom Riders. The young people in Waco and across this country are sacrificing their health in light of the coronavirus pandemic and in the face of the violent tactics of some law enforcement officers to demand that this country live up to its ideals. Yet they are marching with hope. They are protesting so fervently, because they believe that change can happen. We should not squander their sacrifice.
Protests are a necessary starting point for change, but they cannot be the only action that individuals take. This latest grave injustice must result in more than protests, rallies, and vigils. We must support the enactment of laws and policies that address police brutality, hold law enforcement officers accountable for their actions, establish citizen review boards, discourage contracts that make it difficult to discipline officers with documented histories of bad behavior, and develop appropriate and transparent use-of-force policies.
Waco is about to hire a new police chief. The City has the opportunity to hire a person of color to head the Waco Police Department. Hiring an African American chief of police would send a powerful message about racial equity. A properly vetted African American chief would change
the long history of the Waco Police Department’s lack of diverse leadership in the top ranks. An African American chief would have the potential of attracting minority candidates to the force who could progress through the ranks creating a critical pool of possible future leaders. An African American chief would help develop sound, trusting relationships with Wacoans of color. We must advocate for the hiring of a African American police chief of color via social media, letters-to-the editor, phone calls, and attendance at city council meetings.
Because the NAACP is always fighting for justice, we have policies ready to implement and laws to enact right now. The NAACP was ready to immediately pivot from working on the COVID-19 pandemic to the George Floyd murder and uprisings to place policies and laws before city councils, state legislatures, and the US Congress. The Waco NAACP has been meeting on a quarterly basis with the Waco Police Department for nearly five years. The Minneapolis NAACP was at ground zero protesting in the streets and meeting in the council room. The NAACP is working all over the country. We invite you to join the Waco NAACP in its fight against police brutality and for racial equity.
Above all, we must all vote in local, state, and national elections. Our vote is the single most powerful weapon we have to combat police brutality and systemic racism. It is our vote that causes politicians to act. The measure of the value of our vote is how desperately our opponents fight to keep us from exercising it. If you do not think that a vote matters, consider what has
been going on in this country for the last three and half years. That is the result of voting. It is crucial that every Wacoan who participated in the rallies also vote in upcoming elections. If they do not, the rallies will have been an empty gesture.
The chaos that we are currently experiencing might lead some to believe that we will not come through this moment. I wholeheartedly disagree with that premise. If we can begin to see each other as collaborators in this vast struggle for the soul of America that has been going on since its founding, we can transform this country. Rather than allow this moment in our country’s life to drive us to hopelessness, let it be the catalyst for a renewed commitment to justice.