Explained: Why Black Lives Matter?
There have been protests underway in all states of the U.S. since the death of George Floyd, 46, by the Minneapolis Police.
Derek Chauvin, 44, the police officer was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. After the video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 43 seconds emerged on social media. In the video, Floyd can be seen saying “Please, I can’t breathe.”
Along with Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao have been charged for aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter after a nationwide protest.
This is not the first time a black person had experienced injustice. The discrimination against the black community comes from the time of slavery. After years of inequality, The Civil Rights Movement took place in the 1960s.
One might think that the movement may have ended the racial discrimination and prejudice against the black community. However, black people have continued to face racism against the color of their skin. According to the Mapping Police Violence database, the average number of black people killed by police nationwide is 1949 (from 2013–2019).
This graph indicates the total number of people killed by police occurred from 2013 to 2019 among different racial groups in the cities of the U.S.
By looking at the data, it is evident that people killed by police are low with Asian and Hispanic communities. On the contrary, the number of black people killed by police is relatively higher than other racial groups. Chicago, Houston, New York, and St. Louis seem to be the cities with the highest number of Black people killed by police. On the other hand, there are cities where there are only 1 or 0 killings.
Mapping Police Violence also stated that 99% of police officers are not charged for the crime. The nationwide protest has brought people from around the world out on the streets amid a pandemic. These protests may be different than the ones that have taken place before because people want to see a change in the system. A system that continues restraint, someone, from their right to exist because of the color of their skin.
There are organizations through which you can donate such as Color of Change, Black Lives Matter, NAACP, Fair Fight, and many more. The least we could do is to listen, learn, read, and take action.
