At the end of May 2020, the world was horrified by the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed over the actions of Minneapolis Police officers during a procession of his arrest on charges of counterfeit money transactions in a grocery store while buying a pack of cigarettes. As the video spread widely on social media, George died when one of the 4 police officers who arrested him named Derek Chauvin, pressed George’s neck for about seven minutes. George himself did not seem to move because his hands were handcuffed and he could only moan by saying “your knees around my neck. I can’t breathe. ” Even in the video also heard George calling his mother. Some people who were around had asked the policeman to remove the knee from George’s neck, but the policeman ignored him. As a result George was unconscious and then rushed to the Hennepin County Medical Center hospital.
George’s death aroused the anger of the American public and even the world. Crowd people demanded the death of the 46-year-old man. It also triggered a massive demonstration on the issue of racism that was reoccurring in the United States. As quoted by CNBC Indonesia, from the 2018 survey conducted by Politico and Morning Consult, racism in the United States worsened when Trump became president. At least 55% of US citizens admit that
Looking back, racism is not a new case in the history of world civilization. This was based on several historical accounts of the treatment of white people against black people. For example, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe and America it was very popular in terms of the Human Zoo. The Human Zoo is a showcase of members of the indigenous tribes of Africa, Asia and South America which is staged then exhibited on the pretext of introducing and displaying foreign cultures. Also at that time slavery occurred in Europe and America where black people were made slaves to white people.
Although slavery of black people has long been abolished, cases of racism in various parts of the world still often occur both in the form of verbal and physical violence. In Indonesia itself racism occurs in forms that have even been considered commonplace. For example white skin is identified with everything that is beautiful and attractive. In addition, there was a case of racism against Papuan students in Malang, East Java, which emerged before President Jokowi’s inauguration last year.
Understanding that differences from any side such as skin, ethnicity or nation etc. are important. Thus, every human being should respect each other’s differences rather than feel proud and boast about feeling the best compared to other groups. In addition, international law also tries to regulate some human rights that should be obeyed to create a sense of peace and mutual respect for fellow human beings.
Among the several human rights that have been regulated in the United Nations are rights without discrimination. This right includes freedom of religion, race, color, sex, language, political opinion and so on. From this, it is clear that racism is a form of evil that must be avoided by all human beings.
So, what can we do as humans? The incident that befell George Floyd is one proof of injustice that still exists. So that came the viral hashtag which is #blacklivesmatter.
As young people, of course we need to take a role in campaigning for anti-racism so that it can shed difference. In addition, we need to know a lot of people’s experiences in order to increase social awareness regarding this issue. In essence, being a young person with high curiosity is very necessary.
Moreover, if we have many opportunities and sources of learning about black people. Because whoever we are, whatever the color of the skin, we are human beings who should be respected and respected.
written by Nanda Rachmad