By Aaron Miller-
U.S Protesters toppled the only statue of a Confederate general in the nation’s capital and set it on fire on Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in the US, amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Cheering demonstrators jumped up and down as the 11-foot (3.4-meter) statue of Albert Pike wobbled before falling backward, landing in a pile of dust. Protesters then set a bonfire and stood around it in a circle as the statue burned, chanting, “No justice, no peace, no racist police”.
Demonstrations were held in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington on Friday , extending protests of the last few weeks after Afro American, George Floyd was lawlessly killed in full view of onlookers.
None Intervention
Police on the scene but did not intervene, leading president Donald Trump to tweet about the toppling, calling out DC mayor Muriel Bowser . He wrote: “The DC police are not doing their job as they watched a statue be ripped down and burn. These people should be immediately arrested. A disgrace to our country.”
The statue, dedicated in 1901, was located in Judiciary Square about half a mile from the US Capitol.
Race Relations
George Floyd’s killing on May 25 became a watershed moment for race relations in the U.S, after a video showed a white police officer pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes as the handcuffed black man said: “I can’t breathe.” Derek Chauvin, has since been charged with second degree murder, while two of his colleagues who did nothing to save Floyd, by have charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin.
Hollwood actress, Barbara Stressand gifted the murdered man’s daughter , Giana with shares of her business. Streisand’s gift also included two of her albums, Color Me Barbra and My Name Is Barbra.
Separately, former NBA star and longtime friend of Floyd’s, Stephen Jackson, shared a clip in his instagram page of the 6-year-old reflecting on her dad’s legacy in which she says ”dad changed the world”.
Kanye West has been Gianna’s most high-profile supporter, launching a college fund for her in addition to making donations to the families and legal funds of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. A Go Fund me page has also been set up for Giana.
Frustration in black communities about longtime acts of brutality against black people has been on full display during these protests. It is not the first time black people have died needlessly in the heavy hands of U.S police.
The death of Eric Garner in 2014 who died after being put in a chokehold by a police officer was also horrifying
Video footage revealing Garner’s plea for breath 11 times drew appalled the public as it showed a NYPD officer pushing Garner’s head into the pavement.
The death of Garner and the shooting of Michael Brown – a young black teenager by a white police officer – has been part of the fuel to this seemingly never ending protests in the U.S and the U.K.
It was not much of a different scene when protesters took to the streets in Missouri in 2014 chanting ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ in response to the death of Brown – who they say had his hands up in surrender. Afro Americans desperately want to see change, and why shouldn’t they? All human beings deserve fair treatment.
Immune
U.S cops appear to be immune to wide protests in the wake of one unjustified killing after another in the past six years. They are not immune to the force of the law in any case, where there is enough evidence to indicate their guilt.
A point worthy of mention is that police brutality does also occur against white folks in America. They occur also in very high numbers, though still disproportionately high for black people, but not by a long shot. The circumstances of the deaths in the cases of white folks don’t often get the same scrutiny or attention given when black folks are killed by police.
The reason is obvious. The racial undertone makes it all too alarming and evil. Emotions run particularly high when the victims are unarmed, and did not act in any way that poses a threat.
Every year several hundreds of people, are shot and killed by U.S police. The figures are close to a 1,000 each year. Police reform couldn’t be any more urgent than it is today. Protests may highlight the issue of racism in the police force, but only broad reform can bring change about. Flogging the matter too much with excessive protests is not the best way forward.