Do Black Lives REALLY Matter

It is a moment of celebration for Americans as the murderer of Geroge Floyd has been convicted. The murderer was an on-duty police officer named Derek Chauvin is arrested under the second degree of unintentional murder, third-degree and fourth-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 40 years of jail. This is an exception as a white cop is held accountable for killing an African American person. 

Cheers were emanating from the crowd in Minneapolis and Atlanta as well. People were graffitiing the footpath, the place where Geroge Floyd was murdered, to pay homage to him. Some took to various social media to celebrate the judgement. A girl named Darnella Fraizer started getting all the attention on Twitter as she was the one who recorded the murder of Floyd. 

After the verdict was announced, President Joe Biden addressed the nation that the verdict is an important step towards bringing justice in Minnesota.  Amidst all this, another murder took place before the trial of Chauvin. A fifteen-year-old girl, Makhia Bryant, was shot down by the cops. After the investigation, authorities revealed footage where a black teenager was carrying a knife and charging at another woman when the cop fired the shots. 

According to the relatives of the girl, she had called the police to ease out a domestic quarrel. In the heat of the moment, the cop shot four bullets at the girl resulting in her instant death. Bryant’s death leads to yet another black lives matter protest on a large scale. 

With all these instances occurring, the question remains as to how to end the racism existing in the United States. There is a good chunk of people who are yet to realize that racism is an integral part of their lives. While the US constitution ensures equal rights to all its citizens, racism persists. Moreover, the authorities remain unanswerable for the police brutality happening in the country. 

Vice President Kamala Harris also remarked about the same. Both she and Biden emphasized the unrecorded system of killing Blacks in America’s racial history. It’s sad to see the sacrifice of revolutionists like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks go down the drain when we hear about recurring systematic racism. They fought for an America where there is respect and dignity for African Americans and to end racial segregation and apartheid.  

Movements like Black Lives Matter is a ray of hope for many blacks facing discrimination and more people are becoming aware of it. It is essential to keep the momentum of these uprisings to avoid another Jim-Crowe-Era.