The day that George Floyd was killed by Police Officer Derek Chauvin seems to have become a red-letter date in U.S. history, almost equivalent to 9/11. The nine-and-a-half-minute event, recorded on smart phones and transmitted over the worldwide web, has become a watershed moment for our country.
Within 24 hours, citizens were protesting, buildings were burning, police were battling. And it went on for months. Protests occurred in 2,000 cities in over 60 countries. Certainly, the vast majority of events were peaceful. However, in addition to the murder of George Floyd, the toll included 25 deaths, 14,000 arrests, and well over a billion dollars in property damage to 1,500 locations. This was the most destructive period of civil unrest in United States history.
It must be that something quite profound caused all this to happen.
We should be reflective and honest with ourselves as to the underlying cause of this massive and widespread reaction. What was triggered on May 26th last year? Were there multiple converging factors? Was this a pre-planned reaction? Did something “boil over?” What do you think?
What were the underlying factors behind the massive, widespread and in some cases violent reaction to the death of George Floyd?
How do you explain the underlying cause of what happened?
What does your explanation tell us about the current state of race relations in the United States?
Please share your thoughts below.