The protest wave following George Floyd’s death is increasing day by day, while some people on the other side, share the idea yet do not share the formulation
George Floyd was killed on May 27th in Minneapolis by the US policeman, Derek Chauvin. Three other policemen were also present on the spot, yet none of them did anything to prevent the very unfortunate outcome of the situation.
The death of Floyd, which is considered to be an act of racism and the brutal and unjust activity of the US policemen, has now grown into the almost nationwide protests, which might probably shape into the very aggressive form very soon.
George Floyd was murdered by the white policeman, and his last words were “I can’t Breath”. Those are the words that you will come across all over the internet the most often and also will see on the massive placards held by the protestors. Besides those words are the last heard from late Floyd, they can also be the pure representation of the Afro-American people’s state.
Black people’s rights have always been the topic of discussion, and despite our liberal society and the tolerant world states that the rights of every person are equal, it is still far from the reality some people live in.
This is the first news after the global pandemic that has caused the massive outflow on the international level. People from all over the world fix their position and join the protest physically, mentally, or financially. The unjust behavior, brutal action of direction, and exaggeration of the legal power are now one of the most talked issues.
The protest wave has two major slogans, which are “I can’t breath” representing the last words of George Floyd and “Black Lives Matter” – representing the injustice and brutality of the policemen in regards to the black people overall.
With those slogans appearing all over America and the online world, there are some people who agree with the idea of the protest, yet disagree with the formulation of the slogan and the idea. Twitter is one of the most popular platforms for discussion and you should not be surprised to discover some celebrities and famous people being actively involved in the discussion process.
The Idealistic Crossroad
As mentioned before the slogan of the protestors does not seem appealing to everyone. As some people argue that not only black people’s lives matter, but lives, and all lives matter. This has become another topic of the argument for many, including celebrities like Billie Eilish and Pink.
Billie is the very active user of the social platform and she always uses the platform in order to fix her position. This time her relatively big post was dedicated to those people who support the “All Lives Matter” movement. In her tweet, she states:
“I have an enormous platform and I try really hard to be respectful and take time to think through what I say and how I say it,” Eilish’s statement began. “But holy f—ing s—, I’m just gonna start talking.”
“If I hear one more white person say ‘aLL liVeS maTtEr’ one more f—ing time, I’m gonna lose my f—ing mind,” the statement continued. “Will you shut the f— up? No one is saying your life is not hard. No one is saying literally anything at all about you. All you mfs do is find a way to make everything about yourself. This is not about you. Stop making everything about you. You are not in need. You are not in danger.”
As far as it seems, Billie is not alone in this boat, as “Family Portrait” singer Pink, also joined her in the comments. She clapped to Eilish, saying that despite the fact that we all matter, and every single life is equally important, it should also be acknowledged, that black people are often the victims of the injustice. She also pinned the “epitome of white privilege” to those people’s names, who say that race is not the key fact and the reason for the injustice.
The tweeter and many other platforms have been flooded with similar comments. Some people consider that Floyd could have been of different races, of different ages, and of a different gender. Meaning that this could have happened to anyone and the race should not be the primary addressor of the problem, but the injustice and the brutality of the police should.
While there are many opposers and there are many possessors, one way or another, the very unfortunate fact, representing the poor quality of the system and the major flaw of the system has been shown on the face. This definitely means that some changes should be made and the voices should be heard. All people deserve equal treatment and the policemen, or any other higher echelons should not be responsible for taking away any lives.
George Floyd’s death has already empowered many people and encouraged them to talk and stand up for their rights. The protests are getting harsher and even if some people do not agree with the formulation, at least we all understand the importance of our lives and want to be treated equally.