I Take Full Responsibility For George Floyd’s Murder; The Dead Should Not Be Our Strongest Activist
By Betti Halsell
The social injustice that I’ve seen and experienced first hand had the familiarity of any other day of the week. Being followed in the store was just another Monday, watching my non-black coworker wear a durag around the office was just another Tuesday, and the untimely death of another black man by a white policeman seemed to fit into schedule. I grew desentized, and unmoved by the news of another one of my own being held down until life left his body. The veracity of anger that rose in everybody else made me reflect, why does racism feel so normal? Why does my place in the world feel like it is under a knee, suffocating, and unable to move?
George Floyd’s death hit a global nerve, people of every nationality learned his name and how his life was snuffed out. International protests amid a global pandemic created a synergy of shared risk of life, that the black community faces on a regular basis. It shouldn't have taken his death to spark such turbulence in the world. I had to look at myself, what was I doing before this moment. In full transparency, I did nothing before this moment besides being an abiding citizen, to promote social change within my community.
I want those who are resting in peace, to have that luxury of traveling to another dimension in silence. I need to speak up and continue pushing the boulder of change uphill, that is why I take full responsibility in his death, because I was compliant and accepting of a fake reality where I was destined by the color of my skin to never see equality, because of my melanin tone I will always have to work twice as hard. Because I am a black woman, I must worry about giving birth to a black son and live with the fear of his life leaving his body.
The names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile mean something. Their names reflect a system failing and the need for change, but I bet their families would trade that symbolic name and all of their possessions, just to have that person alive and well. Just to see that person walk away from their encounter with the police unscathed and unharmed. That is why as I live and breathe, I will fight for the George Floyds that are still living, for the Breonna Taylors still breathing, because I do not want to add another symbolic name to the movement that has been present before their death.
My purpose is clear and the mission is straightforward, do not let up until there is physical evidence of a fair society. There has been a lot of exposure of companies across all sectors, so the lines have been made clear. Racism is still alive and well, turning the murdered into involuntary monarchs. Now everyone sees and admits the misfortune of a people is due to a collective social contract, I take full responsibility in portraying a sense of normalcy in my cage.
Cover image via The Guardian
