In the Wake of George Floyd: A Discussion on Police Brutality in America

I don’t want to live in a world where I wake up to a new “Justice for X” every week. This week, it was Justice for George Floyd.

George Floyd is a name I will not forget, but there was a person behind that name.

George Floyd was a father, a brother, and a friend to many.

So why do I know his name? Because George Floyd was an innocent black man who was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white cop, while Officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Keung stood by. This is the world we live in.

This is a world where, alongside countless other black people, I am afraid of what might happen when I step out my door. I shouldn’t be worried every time I drive by a cop car that they might pull me over, and even if I am doing everything right, I am somehow wrong. In their eyes, what they will see is a black person. And for some, that’s all it takes.

That’s all it took in the case of George Floyd.

When I have voiced these fears in the past, they have been dismissed:

You live in the suburbs. You’re fine.

You’re only partially black, so you don’t need to worry.

I will not deny that I was raised on Chicago’s North Shore, one of the most affluent and highly educated areas in the country. Nor will I deny that I have attended top-ranked schools, New Trier High School and Middlebury College. I will not deny that level of privilege that I hold because truthfully, that is not what matters.

I am mixed. My mother is white, and my father is black. If a white police officer sees me, they are going to view me as black before even considering a possibility that I am also white. Despite being white, in this country, I am first and foremost black. And no black person is truly safe in this country. Where I grew up or the fact that I am mixed will not matter if I am faced with just one cop like Derek Chauvin who won’t look past the color of my skin. So, what matters?

What matters is the fact that black people are being gunned down, suffocated, and murdered by police officers at a gross rate in this country. What matters are the assumptions that are made and the prejudices that are held based on someone’s race.

We are seeing officers who are acting from a singular glance at a person’s skin, and if it’s not what they like… well, the consequences are ruthless. And this issue is not exclusive to the world today. Police brutality against black people has been an issue in America for decades on end. Black figures throughout American history, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Shirley Chisholm, were just some of the prominent voices against racial injustices, like police brutality.

My skin color, and the skin color of every single black person in America, matters. A person’s skin color should never be a matter of life or death.

Our reality is one in which police brutality and racial profiling have led to senseless murders of innocent black people in America. It is deeply upsetting to even have this discussion. I don’t want to be writing about this. A world ridden with such brutality is not one I want to live in, but it is my reality. It is everyone’s reality, too.

We live in an era of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Eric Garner. Why do I remember these names? Why should I have to know these names? And what about all the names that I don’t know? What about the names to come? That’s our reality.

We must face this reality because saying and doing nothing is not acceptable. Without action, the world will not change, and the list of black victims of police brutality will only lengthen. We know actions speak louder than words, and we need to be sending strong messages with our actions. I propose the following:

Share your voice and educate your audience. In her book, So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo writes, “I know that it’s hard to believe that the people you look to for safety and security are the same people who are causing us so much harm. But I’m not lying and I’m not delusional. I am scared and I am hurting and we are dying. And I really, really need you to believe me.” Oluo calls on everyone to face this reality because, as people in America, it is our collective reality. We cannot effectively change this reality if we are too scared to confront it and having conversations is one way to begin acknowledging these injustices.

Follow and support organizations like Campaign Zero or non-profits like the National Police Accountability Project who are actively working to bring justice around these issues of police brutality.

Lobby your representatives on new state legislation such as required body cameras for officers, extensive trainings on topics of bias and abuse, and the restriction of forceful, pain-compliance techniques. The Center for Popular Democracy proposed a set of fifteen policy reforms to promote justice, called Building From the Ground Up: A Toolkit for Promoting Justice in Policing. Asking your representative to support policy reforms like those is something we all can do.

So, go forth, and let the world hear your voice when we shout for justice.