When the Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against the neck of George Floyd, it transfixed, then ignited the world for a good reason. A moment in history was captured and crystallised in the annals of infamy and racism. In stark relief it defines and delineates racism in all its rawness and barbarity for the whole world to see. The footage of Floyd gasping “I can’t breathe” speaks to all of America – and the world too – that they have allowed their country to plumb to such sickening depths in condoning racism tacitly or otherwise against their fellow Americans. The number of Blacks killed by police in recent years has topped hundreds, many without justification and with many of their perpetrators going unpunished. Finally, it has to take the footage of Floyd’s last moments to inflame the world just as straw ignites under a magnifying glass in sunlight. Hold that magnifying glass over America, and Floyd’s death unfolds more that is ailing the country.
Beyond the knee being pressed unrelentingly into Floyd’s neck, there are a few more things about the image that are most disturbing. First, he was pinned down in broad daylight and in full view of the public. This suggested that the officer could not care less what the public thought about it nor was he afraid of being reported on. Or was he overly confident that he would not suffer any consequence? Next, the symbolism was profound: With the White officer on top and Floyd unable even to wiggle, it reflected the abject plight of Black Americans as a trampled and downtrodden community, oppressed to the point of still being shackled and suffocated in their attempt to break free from White injustice since the days of slavery.
Indeed, the knee of the police officer has come to symbolise the deadweight of racism stifling America’s Black people of oxygen – heavy-handed, unyielding, unfeeling. Worse, the masterly pose struck by the officer, with one hand in his pocket – strange to say the least in such a situation – betokened nothing more than sheer arrogance and supreme confidence that he had his man completely down much like a cow, subdued and helpless to resist as the red-hot brand is pressed into its back. But Floyd was no bovine: he was a sentient human being. What was even more galling was that the officer’s countenance betrayed no signs of emotion even with Floyd in extremis. Adding to this surreal scene was the fact that none of the officer’s colleagues attempted to do anything about the situation. Instead, one of them could be seen strutting around, talking to some bystanders, presumably shooing them away.
The upshot of this incident is telling: the police could not have taken the law into their own hands all this while unless they had read the mood of the wider community correctly. And up till Floyd’s death public apathy was patently not in short supply, including at the very top. All this points to the fact that the Floyd tragedy is but symptomatic of a deeper malady infecting America: entrenched racism. Floyd’s egregious treatment at the hands of the law and death has finally provided the spark in the tinder box to ignite the social conflagration that has swept through not only numerous cities in America, but also worldwide. Let’s hope that Floyd’s death is not in vain, but has finally breathed life into the Black Lives Matter movement to root out racism and to realise the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr.