What matters most - On the topic of #blacklivesmatter

Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,

I am going to give my own opinion on a recent and hot topic that I'm sure you've all seen already, in today's post. If you don't want to read it, then you don't have to but I honestly believe that my message is important so if you're sticking around, I would also gladly appreciate it too! This is just a pre-warning. 💜

I'm sure many of you have already heard about the tragic case of George Floyd and despite it happening in America, I'm sure we've all seen the event hit the headlines, worldwide. I say tragic because it is. Although there's been a lot of speculation about the true innocence of George Floyd because of his many past and serious convictions and although we don't know for certain what led the policeman, Chauvin, to act so aggressively that day, I do think that at least one thing is for certain. If this was definitely due to racism, I think it's a tragedy that a man, who was convicted of a crime, was treated with such unnecessary abuse, to the point where it was fatal.

I'm sure that the reason why the situation has ricocheted with so many people is because we've seen racial abuse before. Even if it was just verbal insults to a person of any race that is considered different, at school or in the workplace and not necessarily physical, I'm sure that many of us have seen the impact it makes on people and we hate to see it happen again and again. I continued a #blacklivesmatter post on my story only because I agreed with the fact that the physical and likely racial abuse was wrong. The fact that Floyd, who happened to be a black man, died suffocating, saying that he couldn't breath, is something that should never have happened and was definitely an unnecessary response on Chauvin's part.

However, despite the fact that some people believe that Chauvin should have gotten a longer sentence, I'm happy that justice was at least served and that he shouldn't be out on the streets for another 25 years. There are also some things that the police are not allowed to issue out for good reason so I'm not going to make a judgement on something I don't know about.

However, I think that we're also going about some things in the wrong manner. Particularly around the way in which we're all dealing with this.

Firstly, I don't believe that we should be commemorating George Floyd as a martyr because a martyr is an innocent person, who died for their beliefs. Floyd was not an innocent person. I do believe in giving second chances to people but in his case, he was actually found with a fairly large bag of white powder in his pocket when Chauvin arrested him and there is evidence to suggest that he held an extensive criminal record. One of his previous convictions was when he robbed a pregnant woman and held a gun to the woman's stomach and ironically, this woman was black. When you take what he did into consideration, to say that Floyd is someone who would die to help or save the black community, I think that is outrageous because it is clear that he would treat black people just like Chauvin did. He shouldn't have gotten the treatment that he received and it was bad police conduct on Chauvin's part but to say he is someone to commemorate and even memorialise, isn't exactly right either. We should be memorialising the dead soldiers from the First World War or the murdered Jews in Nazi Germany, not a criminal, who was nearly as bad as Chauvin himself. The soldiers and the Jews aren't exactly martyrs but the horrific things that happened to them, are worth remembering more than a supposed black martyr, who isn't even innocent. What happened to Floyd is horrific but we should remember the police brutality and not celebrate him as a martyr who would die to save black people.

Secondly, I do not agree with what we're choosing to do in response to this event. As Nelson Mandela would say, "no one is born hating another for the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, then they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."I think that this quote explains a lot because I've seen a lot of blame placed on people with white skin, who are supposedly not doing enough. Specifically, people have been hating on political parties, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump because they see them feeding into racism on the media. This could be 100% true, but that is not the point at play here. The fact is we need to take action and work with uneducated people, to make them see the light again. We cannot continue to pinpoint the blame on one person as that creates its own level of hate and negativity.

When I saw the #blackouttuesday posts on Instagram, I'll be honest, I did think that it could have been a good idea because by making a thread about an important message, everyone can see this message and more people can learn from it. However, I think that I now realise that many of the posts were meaningless because a lot of people were just posting the hashtag because it was on trend and they didn't want to seem bad for not posting it. I get that even if you post the hashtag just for the sake of posting it, you'll add to the chain and still make a difference but I strongly believe that if you don't truly believe in what you're putting out there, it won't change anything either because you're a part of the difference and it hasn't hit a chord with you.

At the end of the day, what matters most out of all of this, is not what you're going to say but what you're going to do. You may be saying that white supremacy exists and to stop this, you're going to begin paying tribute to the black lives lost by putting a black box on your Instagram feed. However, if someone is getting verbally abused on a tube because of their race, are you going to sit and let it happen? If someone is getting beaten up because of their skin colour, are you prepared to take the risk to try and physically stop it? If someone is receiving nasty comments online, during quarantine because of their race, are you going to let it happen? Some situations are too violent to get involved in and other forms of appropriate action should be taken instead but if you can't even try to stop abuse, I can't see why it's your right to put a post against racial abuse. This is what Nelson Mandela was saying. We need to stand up to people in order to make them change and stop their hate. We need to teach love for all races to them and that can't happen by sitting down and doing nothing. For once in our lives, we must begin to practice what we preach and follow through with what we're saying.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea to post the blackouttuesday or blacklivesmatter hashtag. If that is one way in which you would like to help the cause, then I don't see anything wrong with it. However, we all need to be honest with ourselves and say, will we physically stand up for someone who is receiving unnecessary abuse because the true character of a person can only really come from the things they've chosen to do, when it matters most. So, we need to do more than just say, we need to take action because that is the best way to change the way people think. In other words, you should be willing to do more than just posting a hashtag if you really want to help because you haven't actually accomplished anything by just doing that alone. I'm definitely going to try and endeavour to help people when I see that they need it and I think that that is what you should endeavour to do too.

I acknowledge that people are out on the streets protesting for all the black lives lost. However, the best and easiest way to help is to stand up for people when you see that they're being racially or generally insulted. This way, you know directly what difference you're making. This video is a prime example of this.

i24NEWS English

We must remember also that racism can happen both ways. We can definitely make the judgement that black people are targeted the most but racial segregation can happen to white people as well. A key example of this, often comes when black people retaliate because of the racism that's happened to them. When I watched the film Invictus, I definitely saw this because as Nelson Mandela's white bodyguards were trying to make ammends for the past and work with the black bodyguards, the black bodyguards didn't want to even work with them. I found it incredibly inspirational that Nelson Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman, had put aside his differences and tried to get his workers to make peace, despite going to prison for 27 years himself. Perhaps we all should take a leaf out of his book.

Don't categorise people. There's only one race, the human race.

I would really appreciate it if you could watch Tyrone Magnus's video. He reacts to Candace Owens's controversial video on why she doesn't think George Floyd should be portrayed as a martyr for black people. In my opinion, Tyrone gives the most level-headed review, taking into account both sides of the story. Please watch to inform yourself more about this case. It's really interesting!

(This video does have a few swear words in it so watch at your own discretion)

Tyrone Magnus

Please also take the time to watch this video as well. Tatum talks about the cultural systems that we all let ourselves fall into. It is becoming more fashionable for black people to always take the victim's stand point because they are constantly told they are the minority. When they break out of this ideology, however, things begin to change drastically. Watch the video for more information.

The Officer Tatum

A good book that I would recommend that you read also is Becoming Michelle Obama. I did a review on The Book Hub all about it, if you want to find out more before reading it. Michelle was a black woman, who defied norms and became her own version of success. She's an inspiration to everyone in my opinion.

I would like to just finish with this quote. It shows that what is important for people to focus on is not the colour of one's skin but the type of person they are. This can work both ways.

I hope you found this message informative. It's not a popular belief when it comes to talking about this event but I thought it was a belief that needed to be talked about more. I still respect your opinion if you still don't agree. We're allowed to have our own opinions.

What do you think of what happened to George Floyd? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!

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See you next time,

Bye,

XOX, Juliette

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i24NEWS English

Tyrone Magnus

Officer Tatum

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