William Edward Burghardt Du Bois established righteously that racism and “color line” is the Twenty First Century problem in the USA which leads to massive split among the nation. Indeed, this is “a source of great anxiety and concern”.
George Floyd Cause Goes Global
By
Dr. Hossein Omidi, PhD.
June 20, 2020
I am no threat;
I am guilty of no crime;
“I can’t breathe”;
Help!
“Mama!”
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois established righteously that racism and “color line” is the Twenty First Century problem in the USA which leads to massive split among the nation. Indeed, this is “a source of great anxiety and concern”. In her article “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education”, Linda Darling-Hammond reveals that the American educational system is considered among “the most unequal” in the developing world. As a matter of fact, based on the children’s milieu and “social status”, they do receive not the same educational “opportunities”. Such an educational discrimination policy goes beyond imagination as we find the most affluent 10% of the American educational institutions and schools expend approximately ten times more than the underprivileged 10%. In reality, statistics show that the “spending ratios of 3 to 1 are common within states”. Shockingly, the poor students are always to blame in case they do not achieve. The United States of America government does not find itself responsible and guilty for the explicit discriminations and injustices regarding funding, teacher quality, curriculum, and class sizes. On the word of Jonathan Kozol in his Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools (1991) there are huge differences between public schools serving nonwhite students in metropolitans and their residential counterparts. Characteristically, these educational institutions spend twice as much per student for populations with many fewer special needs
However, educational inequality and injustice is not the only kind of different inequalities in the US. In actual fact, The Americans are plagued with many types of such diseases.
On May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis policeman and his three fellow officers killed George Floyd cold heartedly. His brutal murder once more sheds light on an ugly truth in The US. Black Americans lose their lives in America only due to the color of their skin. Numerous Black Americans, such as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Philando Castile, have also been victims of “systemic racism”.
George Floyd’s death becomes the catalyst for a change in policing worldwide. His cruel and racist murder at the hands of police awakens the global population to the same injustice prevalent in so many countries. From America to small villages around the world, millions of people are protesting racial injustice and police brutality in a singular voice. This international cry for justice and end to racism, awakened by the public killing of Geroge Floyd, has touched every person of conscience. His desperate cry for help to his “momma” rang clearly with every mother around the world. Mothers come in all colors and they were summoned to answer the cry of yet another innocent victim of racist murder in the U.S. Forced to watch the senseless and cruel racist murder of this black man, resulted in a mass-consciousness awakening in the world.
The mass protests in hundreds of cities across the nation marked the largest number protestors in U. S. history and were represented by multi-racial groups and people of all ages. The protests did not diminish in numbers nor the justified anger. They grew in numbers, in solidarity and in determination among all ethnic groups calling for transformational changes in the police system. The people clamored for the dismantling, abolishing and defunding of America’s police institutions. The clarion calls for community control of police and holding police accountable for racist crimes against Blacks and minorities. Banning tactics, such as knee-on-neck procedures commonly used by police is no longer feasible. The efforts have failed miserably, and the truth and need to build strategies that promote real systemic changes to end all institutions and policies that perpetuate structural racism and inequalities. In Washington, DC, there were notable signs of fear prompting Trump to take cover in a bunker while and paralyzing all operations at the White House.
The people’s demands prompted the arrest of his killer, former officer Derek Chauvin and the other officers involved the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin’s charge of third-degree murder was increased to second-degree murders and two manslaughter charges. This resulted in a wave of calm over the protesters but also prompted greater efforts and peaceful protests for many days. George Floyd’s painful death at the hands of racist police demands not only that all police be held accountable for their crimes against Blacks but demands an end to police terror and the entire racist system in the U.S. that has been repressing so many people at home and in so many other countries. To win the fight against the power structure in America, the people must continue this solidarity and find ways to stay in the streets, protecting each other, and remain awake to tactics designed to topple their efforts. When the power-structure escalates their tactics and employ state terror, it signifies they are losing. To learn more about common tactics used against popular movements, leaders utilize the web-free school “How Social Transformation Occurs.” The call for greater resistance demands that people be well-informed of how to combat the enemy and how to respond to its tactics. May the Popular Resistance School provide all seekers of justice for all the George Floyds in America and the world the tools to bring justice and freedom to all.
In this regards, Imam Khamenei, The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, in his recent televised speech on the 31st anniversary of the demise of Imam Khomeini, mentioned the chaotic condition in America following the barbaric murder of George Floyd by American police and indicated, “A police officer putting his knee on a black man’s neck and pushing until he dies shows the nature of the American governments.” Imam Khamenei specified that “what is being witnessed today in US cities and states is the disclosure of a reality that was always kept concealed”. The leader of the revolution highlighted that “today’s situation is in fact like the slime at the bottom of the pond that has risen to the surface.” He established that “such crimes have frequently happened in the past, and the Americans have done the same things in many countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and other such countries”.
Mentioning the American protesters’ motto of “I cannot breathe,” Grand Ayatollah Khamenei said, “this is what the nations that have been the victims of US’s oppressive usurpation want to say from the bottom of their hearts. By God’s favor and grace, the US has been disgraced as a result of its own actions. Their management of the Coronavirus brought them to disgrace, and their weak handling of the situation caused them to have several times as many casualties as other countries. The American people feel embarrassed and ashamed of their government.” Imam Khamenei accentuated that The US government “despite the fact that they kill people in a visibly appalling manner, they are so brazen that they show up in public without one word of apology. That is while they open their big mouths to say that they support “human rights”. Seemingly, George Floyd “who was killed that way was not a human and did not have any rights! This is how it is”. Indeed, this is a “scandal for the American ruling system and humiliation for the American people”. Finally, The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran concluded that “I believe that even those people – whether the Iranians inside our country or the Iranians outside the country – whose job is to support, defend and embellish the US, even they cannot hold their heads up because of the current circumstances in the US”.
Bipartisan senators especially; Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, and Kamala Harris, have spoken up. These senators have repeatedly been vocal against racism and Structural injustice. Two largest facets of distress of the people within the US imperial capitalist system. In this regard, Mr. Cory Booker, Senator of New Jersey, explicitly acknowledges that “America has a serious and deadly problem when it comes to the discriminatory and excessive policing of communities of color - and that policing exists within a system that time and again refuses to hold police accountable for their brutality.” He goes on to point out the depth of the tragedy. He articulates that “for too long, this has been accepted as a cruel reality of being black in this country.”
Referring to the violence and serial killings of African Americans by the police, Ms. Kamala Harris, a senator from the state of California, states that “in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders, we must ask ourselves: how many more times must our families and our communities be put through the trauma of an unarmed Black man or woman’s killing at the hands of the very police who are sworn to protect and serve them?” She continues that “America’s sidewalks are stained with Black blood”.
Also, Waikinya Clanton of Black Millennial Convention maintains that “for the past four-plus centuries, Black people have continuously been made to endure unfair, unjust, and inhumane treatment” in America. She asserts that the brutal murder of black people such as “George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others have taught” the black community that “obedience will never be enough” and “liberty and justice for all applies to everyone but Black people.”
Finally, it is worth mentioning, reflecting on the American nation’s history and listening to the voices in Black communities, it is obvious that profound injustices and discriminations in the American society have been there for generations. Indeed, a straight line from slavery to Jim Crow to the redlining of the US banking and housing systems to mass incarceration to the wrongful massacres of Black people. Latterly, while examining the (Coronavirus Disease) COVID-19 pandemic, Black and brown people are diseased, hospitalized, and dying at extremely higher rates.
References:
Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. New York: Crown Pub., 1991.
https://popularresistance.org/mass-uprising-protect-it/Accessed 9 June 2020.
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https://www.iep.utm.edu/dubois/Accessed 9 June 2020.
https://popularresistance.org/community-control-of-police/Accessed 9 June 2020.
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https://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=45814 Accessed 18 June 2020
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https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/6/bennet-booker-harris-introduce-sweeping-legislation-to-reform-law-enforcement-and-strengthen-accountabilityAccessed 18 June 2020/
https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/b/4/b4324669-4ada-4261-b100-11608ab11286/C6746B1C694E81A0D5702D1BE8BC6312.justice-in-policing-act.pdf/Accessed 18 June 2020
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