“I can’t breathe” a sentence you would expect to say when a friend has told a very funny joke, or someone has said something unbelievable and you spend about 5 minutes in a state of pure laughter. Or “I can’t breathe” is a chilling sentence, something you would expect to hear in a movie or read in a book – not hear in a real life threatening situation, but these are the words caught on camera as police officers in Minnesota – for some reason decided 46 year old George Floyd deserved to be arrested. His crime? Just living his life as a black man.
The death of George Floyd and the countless other deaths of unarmed black people in America is the reason why, for my first post, I want to pay tribute to all those and their friends and families who have unfortunately been treated horrendously by the police force in America, one would hope that in 2020 the world would have moved on from murdering others because they ‘might be a threat’ or ‘because they’re a different colour.’
Hashtags on twitter such as #BlackLivesMatter, #Racism and #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd are so so important in showing police officers in America and individuals in America who murder black people for no reason, that the world is watching, we are judging you and we are disgusted by your behaviour. The world has developed significantly since the momentous Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s but it begs the question, what is holding authorities in America back from treating black people in America as well as white people are treated?
I really hope we see the day when everyone in America is treated with respect and dignity, when everyone is equal and the race war comes to an end.