By: Tye Richmond
Two years ago today, the country and the entire world was turned upside down by one man’s death. George Floyd’s tragic demise was broadcast from a cellphone in Minneapolis Minnesota but was felt all over the world.
It was announced today that President Biden is expected to sign an executive order on federal policing Wednesday at the White House, multiple sources tell CBS News, two years after George Floyd died at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
The executive order comes after bipartisan negotiations in Congress to reform policing failed last year. The effort, which was sparked by Floyd’s death, was spearheaded by Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, and Democratic Rep. Karen Bass.
Even with Biden’s executive order, we are still a long way from where we need to be when it comes to police reform. It is a topic in congress and within minority communities. We need to change the dynamics between police and the communities they serve.
Honestly, it seems like everybody just moved on and after the summer of 2020. Everyone was “woke” and you saw and heard “black lives matter” everywhere, but now people gone on about their everyday lives. Which is a sad reflection on George Floyd and others who have fell victim of police brutality.
In a Boston Global article by Renée Graham, she said, “America never reckons with its racist transgressions. Heady notions of any reckoning disappeared faster than all those Black Lives Matter signs that suddenly popped up everywhere.
We’ve been left with the bitter reality that our country deliberately squandered a pivotal moment ensuring that Floyd’s death would be in vain.” Graham continued, “Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020, during a week that amplified this nation’s racist attitudes and racial disparities.”
Those seven days began with the grim anticipation of America’s 100,000th death from COVID-19, a pandemic that has had a disproportionate impact on Black and brown communities.”
“On the same day of Floyd’s death, a white woman provoked a confrontation when a Black man asked her to abide by leash laws in New York’s Central Park. He videotaped her as she called 911 and falsely claimed that “an African American man is threatening my life.” That viral video sparked discussions about how this woman tried to use her privilege and a racist lie to provoke police to punish a Black man.”
“Before that week’s end, the last minutes of Floyd’s life would dominate the news and social media. If not for Darnella Frazier’s cell phone video, his death would have been forgotten; Minneapolis police lied and initially called it a “medical incident during a police interaction.” Instead, it became a worldwide call to root out the police violence and entrenched racism that enabled Floyd’s death.”
Now, in 2022, everything is back to business as usual. It feels like most people forgot about George Floyd and the real issue of police brutality that is still prevalent in this country. Even though the George Floyd tragedy happened in 2020, it was a wakeup call for this country which said “enough is enough”. Now, everybody is falling back to sleep and going on with their lives and I think it is time for people to WAKE UP to what’s really going on. RIP George Floyd.
