If we thought our pandemic gripped world couldn’t get any worse, we were wrong. With the murder of George Floyd by the lethal use of a Minneapolis police officer’s knee, cities across the world have risen with mass gatherings of protesters. Outrage for George’s unlawful and unnecessary death have stoked fears the contagion will spread, as many protests occurred in Coronavirus hot spots. With streets flooded with demonstrators, many not wearing masks and the police responding with tear gas, the perfect Petri dish for COVID19 has been created.
Imperfect Timing. George’s murder and subsequent protests have come just as many communities were beginning to lower their guard. Restrictions were gradually being loosened. In terms of COVID19, the protests couldn’t have happened at a worse time, with fears for a second more deadly wave, making the first look like a walk in the park. Months of social distancing have been overturned overnight. Fresh outbreaks could see the reinstatement of shutdowns. With emotions running high, that would be like putting a lid on a pressure cooker.
One death too many! Already Reeling from a world high of COVID19 deaths, numbering more than 100,000, America’s future looked bleak. One in four Americans have been laid off in the past three months. With some claiming a staggering 40 million unemployed. Then George Floyd's killing shook America to its roots. As he pleaded with the officer, ‘I can’t breathe', those exact words echoed from 2014, when another black man, Eric Garner was choked to death by an NYPD officer. The difference between America then, is it’s in the grip of a modern day Black Death, known as Coronavirus.
Black Lives Don’t Matter? If anything, the black and white divide in America is widening. The COVID19 pandemic has only shone a spotlight on it. Adding to existing racial inequalities by claiming a disproportional amount of black lives. Together with America’s economic collapse, George’s death was for many black communities, the last straw. A policeman taking a black life, in broad daylight, he might as well have yelled ‘Black Lives Don’t Matter’, while he was asphyxiating him. Hang your head in shame America.
Tempers and Temperatures Rising. While summer temperatures rise in America, political fury sky rockets. It’s long been thought a correlation exists between the two. With heat fanning fraying tempers. The America of Trump is in turmoil. Cars are ablaze, protesters hurl rocks, stores are looted, police stations are stormed. The Governor of Minnesota has declared a state of emergency, sending in the National Guard in an attempt to wrestle back the streets of Minneapolis. If Nero fiddled while Rome burned, President Donnie will no doubt be tweeting, as America goes up in smoke.
The language of the unheard. Before a sniper’s bullet cut him down, The Reverend Martin Luther King said, ‘A riot is the language of the unheard.’ George Floyd’s death, caught on camera, sparked a nation to fury, while 100,000 COVID deaths couldn’t. Even the ultra, right, pro-law and order, Fox News was critical of the very public execution of George by the police. President Trump, always the diplomat, declared, ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’. To quote Bowie ‘putting out the fire with gasoline’.
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