Not One More
One week ago, we tried to grasp what it means to have lost more than 100,000 people in a little more than 100 days. How do we comprehend the depth of this horror? The sheer enormity of the pain and suffering of people makes it difficult to absorb. How do we grasp the stark racism carried daily in numbers reflecting the death toll in African American communities far outstripping those in white, wealthier areas? Many of us felt our hearts could hold no more anguish.
Then we saw Derek Chauvin kill George Floyd. Chauvin put his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck and held him down, squeezing the life out of him. Chauvin appeared calm and in control through the nearly nine-minute killing. He looked passively at the crowd urging him to back off. He was unmoved by the pleas of the man under his knee.
Chauvin and his accomplices enacted the killing that is essential to this country. It is the slow, calm, and cruel certainty of death inflicted by white supremacy on black bodies, unmoved by pleas to justice and mercy. The death of George Floyd was caused by a sickness that goes to the very beginnings of this nation. It is the same sickness that has allowed this virus to kill so easily in communities of color. It is the sickness that has made the US the most violent nation on earth, the most capable of killing, anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Ten years and a few days before George Floyd lay on the ground dying, seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was asleep on the couch as her grandmother sat beside her watching TV. The Detroit police Special Response team burst through the doors of their apartment, threw flash grenades, and shot Aiyana through the head. The whole event was filmed for a reality TV show. Police tried to lie about Aiyana’s murder, blaming the grandmother, claiming she attacked the officers, attempting to grab the gun. The police had invaded the wrong apartment. No one was convicted of any crime. It took almost 10 years for the city to acknowledge responsibility to the family.
In the 10 years since Aiyana’s death, the police have learned nothing except how to kill more efficiently. They have learned that it does not matter if they wear body cameras. It does not matter if they are videotaped. It does not matter if they kill a child with a toy gun. It does not matter if they kill a man sitting in his car. It does not matter if they use force and violence. They can do whatever they want. They can squeeze the life out of a person, in front of the world, and walk away. More than 1000 people are killed every year by police. Most of their victims are African Americans.
Today, we need to say enough. Not one more person. Not one more name. Not one more life to mourn.
The police do not make us safe. They do not protect us. They began as the militias organized to kill indigenous people so white settlers could steal and hold land. They used these killing skills to terrorize, trace, and capture African people resisting enslavement. They are sworn to uphold a legal system designed to protect property, not people. They should not exist in our communities.
It is time to dismantle the police and to provide for our own safety and security. During this pandemic, we have seen the power of compassion and care, the capacities we have to establish new ways of living that value life, connection, and safety. We can create loving communities by creating real neighborhood safety, pledging to solve problems together, and learning how to live more peacefully. The corrupt, corporate state is failing all around us. We can and must take responsibility now for the life and health of our communities.