Thoughts on Police Brutality and the Bleak State of Life in 2020

I normally don’t do political posts, as there are numerous other people that can voice out opinions much better than me, but I’ve been doing some thinking, and I feel like some things need to be said, as it’s been an especially stressful year.

This has been a tough couple of weeks.  Nothing in the year 2020 has resembled anything normal, and from where things are right now, I’m not wholly sure if things will get better.  2020 has been a bad year, and the outlook seems to be bleak right now.

George Floyd died at the hands of the police, and they attacked him and a police officer used his knee to sit on his neck for approximately nine minutes, three minutes after he had stopped breathing, and the three other police officers just stood by.   The other officers could’ve stepped in to try to prevent Derek Chauvin from kneeling on George Floyd to prevent his death, but the fact that the other three officers just let it happen means they were complicit and also need to be held fully accountable for their unjust actions.

We need to make sure that the officers who committed the crime get penalized and get the stiffest possible penalty they can face.  People should not have to fear for their lives merely for existing.  The problematic issue that the police and the president seem to get away with so much highlights the systemic failures that we are facing.  Too much power corrupts, and we shouldn’t put up authority figures on a pedestal, for they are human, too, and humans can tend to make mistakes.

The powers in charge need to acknowledge that every human has rights, and they should stop acting out of bigotry and racism.  In 1991, Rodney King was unjustly beaten by the police officers, as those four officers ended up getting acquitted, even though video clearly showed that those officers were in the wrong and had committed those violent acts.  1989 was the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, where students gathered to protest in China, only for China to decide to use tanks as a response, and numerous people died, yet that incident seems as if it no longer exists in the memory bank in China.

It is important to remember the history, so that people can learn from it and so that they don’t end up repeating their failures.  Right now, it’s been getting so bad in the United States, that they’ve been implementing 5 o’clock curfews, and the president has been using the National Guard, and other law enforcement officials against protesters, as they’ve been using riot gear with seemingly no regard for people’s health. 

It didn’t seem like anyone was being tear gassed when white supremacists were out protesting stay-at-home orders several weeks ago.  Now that there are curfews and with many officers and military personnel stationed out in the streets, we’re in a police state, and with the coronavirus still having not gone away, it feels as if we’re being punished for being at home due to curfews, yet we risk being brutalized and arrested if we go out.  The police are meant to protect and serve, and to make citizens feel safe, but if they go out of their way to harm and/or kill us, then that doesn’t make me feel like I can trust the police.  We need a new accountability system for law enforcement.  It is time that the police stop murdering people, and the officers that put our lives at risk need to be held accountable.

We’re in tough times.  The United States are led by a president who has no respect for the media or other people who have dissenting opinions that are not his own. It’s maddening that journalists are being attacked while trying to cover protests, as the police are trying to prevent them from doing their jobs or to cover the news.  In times of crisis, it is imperative that the public knows absolutely what’s going on, and journalists are needed to be the impartial, truth tellers to uncover what is happening currently around the world. 

As for basketball, the question becomes, should we still cover this during all the hectic madness that’s been going?  A lot has been going on.  There still is not a cure or a vaccine for the coronavirus, and police brutality keeps happening everywhere.  We need to continue to fight injustice.  Black Lives Matter. 

We stand in support of those protesting and those who are fighting against injustice and inequality.  Racism and police brutality should never be tolerated.  The United States of America needs a new president in charge, one who can unite people rather than divide, and hopefully progress will be made, as it is important for our country to strive for inclusivity, positivity, and for progressive change.  Hopefully, there will be better times ahead.

R.I.P. George Floyd.  

A mural in Minneapolis by Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Niko Alexander, and Pablo Hernandez, photo from Colossal.