A Nation of Reactions
On May 25th of 2020, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis spiraled across the United States, sparking an uproar and controversy amongst millions of people. There were a variety of reactions to the viral video where, now former-police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled his entire weight on Floyd’s neck for a total of 8 minutes during his arrest.
Personally, I never took a glance at that video because of how graphic the scene was.
This situation brought upon a series of chaotic events, stirring feelings of anger and frustration.
The death of George Floyd took the nation on a toll.
It revealed the true colors of citizens when we are faced with conflict.
“Fight or Flight”
Once the news of George Floyd’s death spread, the events that took place afterwards were a never ending catastrophe.
I can vibrantly remember watching live news footage of the protests that took place in Minneapolis. On social media, family and friends or friends of friends were sharing warnings of possible lootings in neighborhoods. Stores were being looted as well, specifically Targets and locally owned shops. This led almost every building to board up their doors and windows.
The protests were then suddenly termed as “riots” by the news media because of the lootings and destruction of buildings. The combination of these events in a short period of time scared many families, including mine. My parents even made each of my siblings pack an emergency bag to keep by our bedside in case we needed to flee.
We brought our trash cans to the back of the house because there were rumors they were being set on fire. In the midst of all of this, voices on the internet and social media criticized and blamed the African-American race for the events taking place. People sided with the police. They re-examined the viral video of George Floyd to reason that he had pre-existing health conditions which ultimately led to his death.
Meanwhile, white-supremacist groups scouted neighborhoods and attended protests to destroy buildings. This pushed the continuous narrative of African-American violence. This division of thinking was present across the nation.
A Grieving Community
Along with the catastrophic occurrences in Minneapolis and other states, feelings of fear, confusion, controversy, empathy, and sadness were chained to these events. Grief, sadness, and empathy for Floyd and his family filled the nation. There was anger towards the police officers who allowed this to happen.
Blaming an entire race for these series of events is judgmental and disrespectful. A part of society had glazed over the death and stuck to the narrative that African-Americans are “bad”. As when it came to the protests, opinions scattered as well.
While some supported destruction because it truly demonstrated the community’s frustration with the police system, others were completely against destruction of the city because locally-owned businesses by people of color were destroyed.
Sadly enough, there was active looting and destruction of private homes in neighborhoods too. Other voices claim that peaceful protests never cause any true change.
Overall, the country was in a state of numbness. There were many overlapping events occurring, throwing perspectives back and forth.
Justice must be served for Floyd, who’s life was mistreated and taken unfairly by the system. African-Americans, Black Lives Matter, Social Activists, and Black bodies are not to be blamed for these events. The act of grouping these consecutive events with strictly one race is wrong.
As I drive around the areas the protests took place last year, I still feel a sense of sadness and grief. I find buildings that were burned to the floor, businesses that were forced to shut down, shops that are still boarded up, and art or signs of George Floyd in memory of his life.
A story that will repeat, but shouldn’t!
The death of George Floyd and the events that followed after is a story to be discussed in the history of America for decades on. The complexities of this time involved many overlapping occurrences, deep and emotional reactions, and concrete concepts mentioned in intercultural communication.
We can see how different groups of different powers co-exist and interact in the midst of a conflict like Floyd 2020.
People protested, people fought, people destroyed, people feared, people judged. It makes you realize all the different perspectives out in the world. We bump head-to-head due to the different values and beliefs.
In preparation for events like Floyd’s death, which will undoubtedly happen again in the American system, we will be able to approach conflict in a much more integrative and collaborative way rather than with judgement and assumptions. That is if we first acknowledge how we as a country are exhibiting communication concepts. Acknowledging will then allow us to pinpoint the issues and find possible solutions to working together more effectively in the future.
SimplisticsStudio 