Till now you might have heard about George Floyd and his brutal death by a US police officer. But this is not the first-time things that like this are happening in the world. Racism has been there long back in American history.
Just days before the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, footage went viral on social media showing uniformed men in Myanmar manhandling prisoners of war in an area where thousands were killed. Other footage that circulated on social media showed South African security forces brutalizing citizens for failing to abide by COVID-19 curfew measures, with reports of at least eight people killed. Protests were also happening in Nigeria over the killing of a businessman by police.
Information about George Perry Floyd Jr
| S.No. | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Born | October 14, 1973 |
| 2 | Birthplace | Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. |
| 3 | Died | May 25, 2020 (aged 46) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| 4 | Occupation | Truck driver, security guard |
| 5 | Children | 5 |
What happened after the video went viral?
But as news of George Floyd spread across the world where the video went viral of Floyd’s final nine minutes and the heavy-handed US police response to the ensuing public rage, something different extraordinary happened. Solidarity marches and gatherings took place starting right from Sydney to Beirut to Istanbul to London to Berlin. “Black Lives Matter” – this slogan and hashtag which was originated seven years ago in the United States to draw attention to police abuses against African Americans, trended globally on social media platforms and among protesters on the streets.
In recent years, there have been similar cases around the world, but rarely has ever an incident inspired such a broad global movement. Because of this sudden awakening of people, attention has focused not just on the abuses but also on entire systems of power, racism, and oppression.
Voice against racism
Floyd’s killing triggered something around the world which had a deep impact on everyone. People came on the streets, burnt stores, and even marched inside the white house. What it has emphasized is that even as American influence has declined, the mythology associated with American exceptionalism has faded, and events in the United States continue to build the course of events around the world. It seems like American citizens now don’t have any hopes from their government and democracy.
Impact around the world
Australia protest over Floyd is connected with concern about persistent oppression of the continent’s indigenous communities. French protests overlap with anger over police violence targeting brown people in the rough suburbs of France’s big cities. Protestors came out on the streets in Germany as they complained both Floyd’s killing and the racism that is there in German society.
What has made the mass protests surprising is that they came out on the road during the COVID-19 outbreak, when much of the world seemed quarantined at home, streaming television shows, and staying glued to their devices rather than moving out into the streets in pursuit of change.
Summing up
Floyd’s murder has left a huge impact on people around the world. It seems almost as if people are revolving from a kind of secondary post-traumatic stress disorder.
