“I Can’t Breathe” : The Voice Against Racial Discrimination

“I Can’t Breathe” – world resonates with these words now.

Across the nations, across the continents, across the whole humanity these words evoke emotions that resent discrimination based on one’s birth, race or colour.

George Floyd

These are the last words of George Floyd, an innocent Afro American who was suffocated to death by a white US policeman, who pressed his knee on Floyd’s throat for 8 minutes 46 seconds on May 25, 2020. The crime he did: he was suspected of handing over a counterfeit $20 currency note at a local store. These are the words that re-ignited the #BlackLivesMatter movement which originally originated during the first decade of this century.

The world refused to take it as a solitary instance of a black man killed by a white policeman. The refusal was a result of too many precedents, which reflected the anger of the suppressed for long, perhaps centuries, in the American Continent. The anger, agony and wrath have been simmering ever since over 4,00,000 black people from Africa were trafficked into America and subjected to slavery. In fact, the American policing policy itself has its base built on oppressive ways of containing the revolts of black slaves of the earlier centuries. No wonder some residues of that attitude still lingers on.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement

(People during a protest procession in support of BLM)
Image Courtesy: Taymaz Valley from Ottawa, Canada – CC by 2.0 License

#BlackLivesMatter (BLM) movement was started in 2013, after a Facebook chat between three women Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The chat was about the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American boy in February 2012, and the acquittal of the killer George Zimmerman. The movement intended to act against the prevailing racial discrimination. Despite the support extended to this movement, there was also opposition from some political angles. Counter movements hashtagged #AllLivesMatter, #BlueLivesMatter, etc., were all a part of the political opposition to the movement.

But the discriminations and the killings did not stop in America. In 2013 Erik Corner was killed, and in 2014 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, by the police. Though the Afro-Americans constituted only 13% of the North American population, almost 39% of the people killed in police action were Blacks.

History of Struggle for Equal Rights

The movement for equal rights in America is not new. It was there for several centuries, though unorganised. Such movements led to the 14th amendment of the constitution in 1868 which gave black people equal protection under the law, and the 15th amendment in 1870 which gave the voting rights to black people. However, many white Americans were unwilling and unhappy to treat equally the people whom they enslaved once. All the benefits of the above-mentioned amendments were undone by the Jim Crow laws established in the late 19th century. The laws intended to marginalize black people and prevent them from using the same public facilities that were used by the white people, or live in the same towns or even go to the same schools. These laws prohibited interracial marriages and prevented black people from voting by introducing the need to pass Voter Literacy Tests.

Civil Rights Movement

The most organised movement for social justice and against the discrimination based on colour came in the form of the famous Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. The movement itself was a fall out of the arrest of a 42-year old woman named Rosa Parks, for refusing to part with her seat in the bus to a white man. Civil Rights Movement gained momentum in 1954 and a lot of supreme court rulings against discrimination followed. Finally, on September 9, 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was enacted and this proved to be the first major civil rights legislation. The act allowed prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent voting. Though empowered by law, a lot of discrimination and undesirable incidents continued.

One of the most famous events of the Civil Rights Movement happens to be the ‘March on Washington’. More than 2 lakh people of all races marched in Washington DC to press for civil rights legislation and job equality. This is where the famous speech of Martin Luther King Jr. starting with, “I have a dream…”, happened. The phrase soon became a slogan for equality and freedom.

The Civil rights act of 1964 was signed, followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

However, the champions of the Civil Rights Movement including Malcolm X (in 1965) and Martin Luther King Jr (in 1968) were assassinated.

Despite such efforts to nullify the movement, they only further empowered the discriminated.

The latest movement in the list, #BlackLivesMatter gained immense popularity initially but it slowly lost its steam later, only to revive in a big way after George Floyd’s death.

“Defund the police and redirect the funds to social causes”; and “make police the guardians and not the impediments to public safety” are the current clarion calls that echo across America now.

Conclusion

As the discriminations rage, the challenges to equality arise, the liberty and the quest for it only keeps growing. Soon, we will become civilized enough to witness the world that is just, that is equal, and where there is no discrimination. There will come a day when we all can ‘Breathe Freely’.