The murder of George Floyd by the police is an unspeakable tragedy.
Black families and communities across this country are united in outrage at this moment. The protests we see are urgent responses to the racism that has afflicted and torn apart our communities for centuries. Over the last few days, these issues have now manifested in anger, sadness, fear, and confusion experienced by people after watching or hearing about the horrific footage of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of law enforcement. We are all asking, when is enough, enough?
As a father, I share the fear of Black parents when our children leave the house. As a husband, I consider my wife and the life she would be left to navigate if I was prematurely taken from her and my children as yet another unexplainable death. As the leader of the NAACP, I understand just how hard it is to face the injustices that threaten our personal safety. And as a Black man, I consider how much longer I can be asked to bear the brunt of these social injustices without meeting force with force.
But, as a community, we must consider what’s at stake in this moment. We must consider the lives we are attempting to forge for our families and communities, and the walls we are working to knock down that will grant future generations access to a greater and more powerful reality.
From the onset, the NAACP in Minneapolis has been at the forefront in spreading awareness and fighting for justice in the death of George Floyd. In speaking with Leslie Redmond, President of NAACP Minneapolis, about the situation on the ground, the rawness in her report and the trauma she has had to face spoke to an issue much larger than Minneapolis, and much deeper than police brutality. The events in Minneapolis have confirmed the weaponization of whiteness and the criminalization of Blackness that has plagued our nation for generations.
I’m asking our communities in this hour to be angry, to be sad, but above all, to be measured as we battle this outrageous injustice. The NAACP will not rest until we see these officers charged and convicted for the murder of George Floyd. But we must also keep our focus on redressing the institutional racism against our communities everywhere that led to this tragedy. And we cannot afford to do so while losing more Black lives.
We are done dying.
What we must do now is protest peacefully, demand persistently, and fight politically. Michael, if you believe that enough is enough, join us in our fight and let’s work together to make sure justice will be ours