George Floyd and now-former Officer Derek Chauvin
A famous late night TV show host, Tara Timsina had two well-known experts Matt Zassick and Jayant Singhal on his TV show to talk about African American Rights and Systemic Injustices. The whole transcript of the show is provided below:
Tara: Good Morning Everyone, I am your late night host Tara, and today I have two experts, Dr. Jayant Singhal and Dr. Matt Zassick with me to discuss African American Rights and Systemic Injustices. Now I’ll give them both a moment to introduce themselves.
Jayant: Hello Good Morning Everyone, my name is Jayant Singhal. I have a PhD in Social Injustices from Harvard and I have written multiple books addressing these issues.
Matt: Hello Good Morning Everyone, my name is Matt Zassick. I have a PhD in African American Studies from Princeton, and I have also written multiple books addressing these issues.
Tara: Okay amazing, let’s get started then. So as we all have heard on May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on his neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds while he was lying face down handcuffed on the street. His death, and many other horrifying acts of social injustice both before and in the wake of his passing, have rightly led to international moral outrage and plenty of peaceful protests in the name of justice. There are countless other cases where courts give higher sentences or bail to minorities and African American offenders. This has been going on for a long time anywhere from pulling innocent people over for no apparent reason, to killing innocent African Americans. Fueling this are the attitudes associated with racial profiling. The biggest form of systemic injustice in modern day America ranges from Police brutality in the streets to the sentencing in the criminal Justice System particularly against minorities especially those of African American descent. Therefore, do you guys think this was a form of racism? More importantly, what is racism? The defination per dictionary states: Racism is the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior .
Matt: Now that the full details of the incident and the resulting court cases are complete, we can be sure about what exactly happened on May 25. The lack of concern for George Floyd’s life has revealed a presence of systemic racism in the Minneapolis police department and American police as a whole. The officers who are responsible for Floyd’s death used unreasonable force to deal with the situation for no reason.
Jayant: I believe what happened that day was surely an act of racism. Racism is treating others differently just because of their race, and that is exactly what happened on May 25, 2020. George Floyd was brutally killed just because he used a fake $20 bill, however, many other people of a different race have done worse and were not killed. Therefore, yes this was an act of racism.
Tara: Okay, now do you guys think George Floyd threatened the policemen’s life? Because we can’t tell what George had said to the police officers. We can’t be sure if George threatened the policemen’s lives by saying something that indicates that. However, from an objective evidence point of view with the available videos, the FOUR police officers had full control of George’s movement and there is no reason to overreact to anything that he said. Police actions were simply immoral, Floyd’s life is being taken away for unjust reasons. Now what do you guys’ think?
Matt: Thankfully there was appropriate video footage released, both from body cameras and witness’ cell phones. The body cameras of the first officers on scene reveal the context of the situation. A corner store manager called the police because George Floyd and another man supposedly tried to use a counterfeit bill to purchase items. While this is illegal, it is such a minor offense. I have worked in multiple grocery stores for years and have dealt with many counterfeit bills. Usually when someone had a counterfeit we would just confiscate it, and depending on the reaction from the person giving it, we would either refuse their purchases or give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they did not know it was counterfeit. Regardless of whether the shop owner should or shouldn’t have involved the police is not the point. The officers knew exactly how insignificant the situation was and acted completely unreasonably. At the very most, the officers could have just written a ticket for George Floyd, but as we know, that is far from what actually happened. Moreover, Store owner, Mike Abumyyaleh, recounted that Floyd was a regular customer saying he, “may not have even known that the bill was counterfeit.”
Corner store that initially contacted police
Jayant: I totally agree with Mr. Zassick here. At no point was George Floyd a threat to the police officers. Moreover, he only used a fake bill which should only cost him a ticket, not his death.
Tara: Okay, now what would you say, Was racial profiling involved in that incident and do you call this a systemic racism?
Matt: Like Tara said, people do in fact make harsher judgements about black people. Unfortunately stereotyping is prolific in America, especially with police. It goes so far that police use racial profiling as a technique to make contact with suspects. Stereotyping is indoctrinated in modern police tactics which creates major problems. Chimamanda Adichie, the author of the very famous “The Danger of a Single Story” Ted Talk can offer some support here. In her talk, Adichie explains that single narratives of a person because of how they look or where they are from can dictate their treatment by other people. Her definition of the word ‘nkali’ is important, “It’s a noun that loosely translates to ‘to be greater than another.’ Like our economic and political worlds, stories too are defined by the principle of nkali. How they are told, who tells them, when they’re told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power.” In the case of George Floyd, the Minneapolis Police department indoctrinated the idea of ‘nkali’ into their officers. The officers were taught that because of a person’s skin color or criminal record, they are not worthy of humane treatment. Once a person has the wrong profile from a police perspective, they are not assumed to be innocent until proven guilty. They are guilty and need to be proved innocent.
Jayant: I think that people unconsciously make harsher judgments about African Americans. In a study it was proved that Black people are 3.5 times more likely than white people to be killed by police when they are not attacking or do not have a weapon. I consider Floyd’s death as an example of systemic racism; treatment of George Floyd was objectively immoral since Floyd’s natural rights were completely disregarded. Floyd, who was handcuffed and struggling to breathe, obviously posed no threat to Chauvin and the three other officers at his side. Floyd clearly seemed profiled and received ill treatment. I believe if it was another gentleman of another race then that individual would not have been dead right now.
Tara: That really shows how wrong our society is. Now, what do you think happened to the culture of the police department? Why have they lost sight of its mission to serve and protect?
Matt: Peoples’ beliefs regarding equality would need to change, and the police would have to refrain from acting on instincts, such as shooting a person just because they are deemed to be suspicious, but rather be rational and use logic before making life-or-death decisions.
Jayant: I agree, even though people have gained positions of power and authority does not mean they will carry out their duties in a righteous manner. Things would need to change to help put an end to this discrimination against African Americans.
Tara: Mhm, how do you think we can enhance police accountability in the US?
Jayant: Most people perceive that if a police officer did something, he or she was doing it for their protection or the greater good of society. So, the bar for charging and convicting police officers is higher than the bar for regular citizens.
Matt: I agree Moreover, Police officers who have acted unlawfully or in a case that is considered police brutality, those officers are being let resign instead of getting fired which gives those bad officers ability to work in another department and injustice against victims continues. This needs to change.
Tara: Amazing, thank you so much for sharing some insights and opinion on these issues with our audiences Dr. Zassick and Dr. Singhal. We really appreciate it.
Jayant and Matt: You are very welcome Tara
Tara: And for my Audience, a quick summary would be:
African Americans have always been low down and victims of racism in their daily lives. In this segment we only talk about African Americans, however, we know racism is all over the world. More than African Americans, every other race is a victim of racism. How do you think you can help while sitting home? A simple solution is to be just nice to others, smile when you see each other, help when you see someone in need and just by doing that you will be making a change in society. That’s all for tonight guys have a good night.
References
Counterfeit bill:
Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas and Wright, Will. “Little has been said about the $20 bill that brought officers to the scene.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/us/george-floyd-bill-counterfeit.html, Accessed November 11, 2021.
Store Owner Testimony:
Burke, Minyvonne. “Owner of Minneapolis grocery store says he told employee ‘call the police on the police’ as she witnessed George Floyd death.” NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/owner-minneapolis-grocery-store-says-he-told-employee-call-police-n1216461, Accessed November 11, 2021.
Cup Foods Image:
“Cup Foods.” Google Maps. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cup+Foods/@44.9341344,-93.264591,16.85z/data=!3m1!5s0x87f627de182a8011:0x300d50dfaad63d78!4m5!3m4!1s0x87f627de19ee94ad:0x656965ff9de6fce5!8m2!3d44.9342949!4d-93.2622641, Accessed November 11, 2021.
Single Story Ted Talk:
Adichie, Chimamanda. “The Danger of a Single Story.” TED Talks, Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg, Accessed November 11, 2021.