Thousands of people in Minneapolis and across the country are protesting the horrific racism of the police murder of George Floyd – from Minneapolis and St. Paul to New York, Los Angeles, Memphis, Denver, Columbus, Phoenix, and beyond. The fact that Floyd was arrested, let alone brutally murdered, for the alleged crime of forgery, when the rich get away with stealing millions from working people every day in this country, is an indication of how racism is defended by our state and its laws.
There were protests in Louisville as well, where cops shot and killed Breonna Taylor in her apartment in March. They shot her eight times.
Demonstrations turned violent in some cases. In Minneapolis, outraged people stormed and burned the district police station where Floyd’s killers were based. Why should anyone be surprised? Black people are suffering the violence of racism daily, on top of the violence of poverty for so many with all of its brutal consequences. This system shows again and again that it sees the lives of black people as without value. In 1967, black activist H. Rap Brown said, “Violence is as American as cherry pie,” speaking of white violence against black people. The times have not changed.
The bosses and their politicians have always pushed racism to divide working-class people against each other. President Trump is feeding racist violence, calling the Minneapolis protesters “thugs” and threatening them, tweeting that, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” This looting is nothing next to the thievery of countless years of racist exploitation.
We need to unite against racism in all its forms. We must protest against racist cop violence!
Featured image credit: Stephen Maturen
