George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, was murdered by police officers on May 25th, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Derek Chauvin, one of the officers at the scene, knelt on the of Mr. Floyd for almost eight entire minutes, all for supposedly using a fake $20 bill. The bill was later found to be authentic.
Many riots and protests pursued the death of Mr. Floyd after the police officers at hand were let go without any punishment. It is clear that Americans saw a problem with the lack of punishment for these officers. I, also, see a problem.
Police brutality has been an ongoing issue in the United States of America. According to The Washington Post, police killed 994 people in 2015, 962 people in 2016, 986 people in 2017, 991 people in 2018, and 1,004 people in 2019. In 2020, they have already killed 463 people (as of June 7th). That number is still rising, and we the people want an end to such violence.
People often bring up how race has nothing to do with police brutality. They often use the argument that more white people are killed by police than black people on a yearly basis. While this may be true, there is also a proportionally larger population of white people in the U.S. than black people.
According to Statista, in 2019, 370 white people were killed by police, and 235 black people were killed by police. According to the 2019 Census, 76.3% of the population was white and 13.4% of the population was black. Proportionally, a whopping 126.38% MORE deaths are black than white. I took the proportion of whites killed by police and divided it by the total population proportion of whites and did the same for black people killed by police. The difference is stated above.
Since there are over 100% more black deaths than white deaths, then it is very obvious that there is a racial issue in America. The riots and protests aren't just about George Floyd. They are about police brutality in general (especially when it is targeted at black people). Something needs to change, and I am happy that people are fighting. Without our protests, officer Derek Chauvin would not have been charged. Because of our protests, other officers that have practiced brutality in their careers have been charged. The country is taking a new stance on combatting racism, and it is a good thing, too.
Participate in your local protests and make a change for our country. It is never too late to change! Please feel free to comment on what you think about the protests, and share your stories of the protests! Thank you for those who are fighting for equality!
Sources:
Berman, Mark, et al. "Protests spread over police shootings. Police promised reforms. Every year, they still shoot and kill nearly 1,000 people." The Washington Post. The Washington Post. 8 June 2020. Web. 28 June 2020.
Statista Research Department. "Number of people shot to death by the police in the United States from 2017 to 2020, by race." Statista. Statista Research Department. 5 June 2020. Web. 28 June 2020.
"Quick Facts." U.S. Census Bureau. Web. 28 June 2020.