The recent killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers reminded me of the long history of racism in America and why African Americans must continuously seek justice as demonstrated by the Black Lives Matter campaign.
She died standing for what she believed in, and her sacrifice helps to redeem an America that is far better than the haters.
My only question is why? What is it about us that so many people fear? What is it about Alton Sterling that placed the officer in so much timidity that he had to shoot him repeatedly? What was it about the hard working and innocent cafeteria manager Philando Castile that provoked unnecessary violence from the officer who pulled him over? In a blog published by the Huffington Post, Dr. Joy Degruy, author of the book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, is interviewed. During this interview she states that “Black people are ‘profoundly resilient’ but the fact is, they have been traumatized… and white people are afraid. The biggest trauma whites suffer from black people… is a fear of black people.” The author of the blog continues by paraphrasing Degruy’s words when she says that “The holding onto the secret of the horror of white racism has taken its toll on white people and has caused them to live in fear. So, at the end of the day, white supremacy has traumatized both black and white people. Black people are afraid of a government which has not and will not protect them; white people are afraid that perhaps their injustice, or complicity in the dispensation of injustice, will come back to haunt them.”