Being autistic, I have a tendency to notice patterns. I started to notice the same patterns in America watching the aftermath the George Floyd murder. These are just a few that I catch, the ones that make me toss and turn at night.
1) The victim going on trial by the corporate media.
Whether with our bodies, our histories, or our family’s histories, I tend to notice the corporate media setting the narrative to vindicate the one who killed an unarmed Black person in the eyes of the public.
Whether the media intends to or not, whether they’re aware of it or not, the way they operate and report murders like George Floyd’s matters. It biases people against the victim.
2) Authorities point out that it’s a tragedy, but overlook key problems that contribute to the continuing violence.
It’s great Andrew Cuomo listed off names of Black people, yet the NYPD is budgeted billions of dollars annually.
It’s great Joe Biden feels bad, but he was one of the authors of the “tough on crime” bill that set the stage for this to happen.
Authorities give speeches full of glowing platitudes about how Black death is tragic, which makes for a great soundbite, but how many of them push policies forward to make sure it doesn’t happen again?
3) “Operate in this space, act this way. And vote. Always vote.”
Do I believe voting is important? Yes. It’s just that I realized that you can’t vote out racism, corruption, money-driven interests, etc.
Yet every time someone like George Floyd dies and uprisings happen, I’m told to act a specific way and vote. Every time. How many were told to vote every time and realized their vote didn’t really change much?
Americans need more than being told to vote.
I’ll finish this by saying that a friend of mine on Twitter said that George Floyd feels different, like the energy has shifted.
I have noticed that.
I’m never going to be completely sure how it will play out, so all I or anyone else can do is stay curious about it, act and speak where I can, and pay attention.
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