After Action Report 2020 -- Imperfect Human

On May 25th, 2020 an event witnessed by the nation and the global community saw the death of George Floyd for eight minutes and forty-six seconds through multiple mediums. The world watched a truth that could no longer be denied. The brutality of the police towards a minority community. Officer Derek Chauvin, one of four police officers on the scene, had pinned his knee against African-American George Floyd’s neck for passing a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill. Police and witness videos put a spotlight on the policies of the police. His death gained the attention of a cloistered public and led the nation and the world to protesting into the streets. 

A death that cracked open the Pandora’s Box on race relations. A death that once again spotlighted the inequities, the injustices, and systemic racism within the institutions of law enforcement. Pandora’s Box amplified the original sin of the country, race exploitation, and put it in full display. While the current Trump administration could only be found to make diminutive comments on the death of George Floyd, the administration prostrated itself towards not offending their “race sensitive” supplicants. 

The death of Floyd In the 2020 election cycle upped the emotion of the electorate to a near frenzy in the summer. In the fall, the emotion of the electorate waned but the sensitivity of race, justice, and fairness was still heightened. For instance, race and how race is voiced within a community of a nation demonstrates its ability to adopt and adapt to change. Race as defined with a cudgel only temporarily shocks the community, but race explained through narration provides necessary discourse, understanding, and empathy. 

In the deconstruction and dehumanization of an imperfect human—George Floyd, in the 2020 election cycle, after the fact information let “law and order” advocates the police to distort the actions of the officers. For instance, Floyd had a police record that showed a man in and out of criminality who was addicted to drugs and painkillers. His autopsy showed that he had a large number of drugs in his system. His behavior the day of his death revealed him as imperfect, lost, and confused.  This behavior allowed the critics of Floyd to diminish him and the perception of martyrdom. Floyd’s imperfections minimized the actions of the police officers, despite their audacity and their abuse of power. The critics subverted the messaging of police misconduct and polluted the discourse with disinformation to create doubt.

In the 2020 election cycle, the Floyd death had an instrumental impact not only because the populace was not distracted, but his story relayed the angst of a community. The national and global attention to race relations seemingly found a common ground. Yet, understanding the race AHA! moment with the twenty-hour news cycle of FOX, MSNBC, and CNN etc., was grounded into obscurity.  Each of the news organizations' biases, whether conservative or liberal, set the table of emotions for the shrinking dominant caste to cloud any possible resolution. Emotions of an election are determining factors in which the majority either nullifies or inflames the swing voter to act. In the case of nullification, the act of suppression through discouragement will generate apathy. On the other side, inflaming the swing voter to act is fear generated, along with other factors of economy, certainty, safety, and stability that an election’s final outcome is revealed.

The death of George Floyd put the spotlight on other deaths, such as Breonna Taylor[1], a case that showed that “qualified immunity”[2](see footnote for link) may need to be re-examined.  The surveillance of an entitled community overstepping their role as security in the  case of  Ahmaud Arbery, and Elijah McClain with overzealousness policing died nearly a year before George Floyd.  Each of these events showed how surveillance and police authority are flawed and treacherous. The predominant message of Black Lives Matter group, a social justice and a left leaning civil rights organization, had come into full fruition exposing an unjust shrinking dominant caste’s institutional system.

The system was under a microscope looking for answers to the issues of the disenfranchised. Unfortunately, just when one thought the country could find an opening to discuss race and justice—the far-left missive shot itself in the head. The majority caste received a gift to cut to the quick— “defund the police”—mantra by the left side of the aisle enabled the right flank to instill the fear of change.

Next Chapter Social Justice Movement

[1]  Unlike the George Floyd incident, the killing of Breonna Taylor was not witnessed by videos or police body cams but written police reports, witness statements of her current boyfriend and affidavits. Her story is revealed through activism, newspaper reports, and mainstream media. The spotlight of the George Floyd murder brought more focus to the events of the past that were overridden by the turmoil of the novel coronavirus. 

[2] Attached Lawfare article helps set the context of what qualified immunity can be seen here