Signs of the Times
The Murder Heard Around the World
“I Can’t Breathe,” the three pleading words of George Floyd as police officer Derek Chauvin took a knee to Mr. Floyd’s neck. It was the tipping point that quickly brought mass protests across the United States and around the globe. The sky-high anger resulted in violence, riots, looting and sirens screaming throughout cities set afire. “I Can’t Breathe” forced us once again to look straight on at the ugliness of racism. But is it different this time? Will “I Can’t Breathe” become THE sign of the times? Will those three words stay with us as a reminder of how we responded and did what is often so uncomfortable–change?
The placards with the words “I Can’t Breathe” are held high as demonstrators chant through city streets, now a battle cry against racism. Murals are popping up everywhere, even as far away as war-torn Syria where artists, Aziz Asmar and Anis Hamdoun, showed solidarity by painting George Floyd and the words “I Can’t Breathe” on the wall of a destroyed building. Crowds gathered throughout Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa and Canada to show their support. Let’s face it, “I Can’t Breathe” is not lost in translation. To suffocate from the callous brutality of racism is not a local issue or a big city problem, it’s a national social pandemic, a global virus.
There are words during critical moments that we have either heard first hand or learned about later. Words of inspiration and hope meant to calm us during difficult and dark times. Will “I Can’t Breathe” prove to be a pivotal moment in our history and stand the test of time?
George Floyd was not someone who set out to galvanize a movement. On May 25th, he bought cigarettes with an alleged counterfeit $20 bill. He was arrested, handcuffed and slammed to the ground. He laid face down as a Minneapolis police officer forced his knee into Floyd’s neck and kept it there, even after the paramedics arrived. George Floyd is not a martyr but is now the last straw, a symbol of social injustice.
We are in the middle of an uprising against racism. The demand for racial equality is loud and clear. Just look at the hashtags taking over social media and the thousands of people with placards dominating the streets. They call out injustice and cry for fairness and liberty for all. We don’t know if this will fade into the abyss or become a footnote to the challenging year when we all grappled with COVID-19. Perhaps those searing words “I Can’t Breathe,” are a permanent call to action that forces us to pull back the veil of racism and provokes accountability and change.
