The trial against Derek Chauvin and the others involved in the death of George Floyd has not started. The circumstances of the unfortunate incident have not yet been fully clarified. However, Floyd is already the new face of the fight against racism.
The pain and protests just one day after his death made Minnesota (and later more than 50 cities) a real hell on earth. The United States became a pandemonium of violence, looting, assault, and anger. The actions and emotions distanced more and more from the fact that gave rise to them. The typical Manicheism of police against people, whites against blacks, people against people. With each passing day, the purpose that gave rise to all this was further distorted. The press media, detractors of the protest, aligned with Donald Trump, showing the images of the destruction and the vandalism created by some of the protesters.
But, on May 31 something unexpected happened. As protesters advanced toward the Miami-Dade Police Station, they were ready to reproduce the violence that had already raged in other Florida counties. But under the watchful eye of the media, the police greeted the town with one knee on the ground as a sign of respect for Floyd. The capacity of awe and emotion of the human being is sometimes ungraspable; people who came felt overwhelmed by crying. Both sides embraced like brothers.
In New York, several police officers followed Miami’s example. Their response was more timid, but it was enough. With the same force that the wave of the violence spread, the solidarity for the victims of racism reached other places in the country and the world. The change was impressive. Along with the wounded masses, police officers could now be seen supporting protesters, mayors with citizenship, chains of Afro-descendants protecting white police officers from possible attacks. Artists, athletes, and public figures have begun to pay the detained protesters’ fines and bails. I can’t breathe, Floyd’s heartbreaking plea became an equivalent of Black Lives Matter.
Protests spread across the United States now with a clear and convincing anti-racist message crossing the nation’s borders. The world has joined. In opposition to racism, it is claimed I can’t breathe; in opposition to Donald Trump, they raise the image of George Floyd.
One policeman’s knee triggered a disaster. It is almost poetic that another policeman’s knee caused this revolutionary change in protests. The symbolic burden of a law enforcement officer amid this context bending his knee completes a cycle that began almost four years ago in the United States.
On August 26, 2016, quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided not to stand for the national anthem “of a country that oppresses black people.” This was the first step that triggered the Black Lives Matter movement.
Going forward, Kaepernick decided to put one knee on the ground as a form of rebellion against the symbols of a state that did not protect the lives of African-Americans, but in turn, in respect of all the honest men who had died fighting for the country. This action soon began to be emulated by teammates and later by other African Americans. The kneeling represents a direct affront to Donald Trump, a protest against racism, and a denunciation of the injustices and problems of the American system.
The act implies the recognition that racism in the United States is a problem rooted in its society, but at the same time, it is an open contempt for all those actions, laws or ideas that discriminate. Donald Trump, the largest representative of racist discourse in the nation, instead of assuming the problem, decided to launch the national guard to drown in blood the protests.
The gesture of the Miami police officers universalized the fight against racism and radicalized it. Thus, from May 31, the Black Lives Matter movement was vindicated through the Floyd case. But even more importantly, it gave a new meaning to the protest. What had become a vendetta is now evolving into a worldwide movement.
This process has had some troubling side effects. Besides vandalism and violence, let us not forget that the United States is currently the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. The agglomerations have increased the cases. The struggles against the racist establishment could also lead to the expansion of the pandemic and with it to a more significant impact on the economy. Amid this increasingly similar scene to an apocalyptic film, the North American elections are seen as a real mystery.
However, something seems to become clear. If the American people persevere in their complaint and more people join in kneeling, Donald Trump may have to consider whether to launch his candidacy or resign.
Investigations into Floyd’s death are currently ongoing along with protests. The new symbol has made it clear that racism is not a problem only for people of African descent but for society as a whole. For decades, there has not been such a strong movement. Amidst the effects of COVID 19, this movement gives back a little faith in humanity, a faith that Trump and his supporters will have to take care of from now on.
