News Article - International

#BlackLivesMatter – Why America Is Still Burning?

America is witnessing nationwide protests since May 2020, after a black man was killed in police custody. Major cities are burning, incidents of mass lootings and deadly clashes between the police and protesters have been in the news for a long time now. 

-       By Zeeshan Akhtar, 28/08/2020

 

    Photo Source: The National Interest 

“Black Lives Matter” campaign was co-founded in the year 2013 by three black women namely – Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opel Tometi as a response to the killings of black people. The campaign later turned into a movement highlighting the atrocities and racial discrimination that black people face in America. Every year since the campaign started, people come out on the streets to protest and oppose any incident that takes place against black Americans. 

 

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was arrested outside a shop in Minneapolis by a police officer Derek Chauvin who was responding to a 911 call made by the shop’s employee reporting a fake 20$ bill given by George Floyd for purchasing a pack of cigarettes. George Floyd was handcuffed, pinned down on the road by Derek who was seen kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck making it difficult for him to breathe. Police bodycam footage’s show, Mr. Floyd cried 20 times that he can’t breathe, but Derek and other officers did not listen to his calls, George died after being for an hour in police custody. 

As videos of the incident went viral all over the world, people in America came out to the streets, a large protest that began in the city of Minneapolis later reached to multiple cities across America. People came out in large numbers, demanding justice for Mr. Floyd and his family, the movement became famous as “Black Lives Matter” started trending all over the world. Major protests started in different parts of the world including Europe, France, and Canada. The protests later turned violent as people supporting the Black Lives Matter movement clashed with people who allegedly were Trump supporters and believed in white supremacy. 

 

As protests turned violent, incidents of shops being ransacked, mass lootings, and the public property being damaged and vandalized became common in different parts of the state. The situation went out of control when thousands of people gathered around the White House and started pelting stones and tugging at police barricades trying to enter the premises just when President Donald Trump was inside, where he was later taken to an underground bunker by secret services as these demonstrations sparked the highest alert on the complex since 9/11. Hundreds of people were arrested, many were injured, and others lost their lives as police and protesters clashed against each other in most parts of the country. 

On the other hand, President Trump was accused of mishandling the Black Lives Matter protests in the worst manner possible. In the initial days, Trump was seen tweeting negatively regarding the peaceful protests that were being held in some cities which resulted in outraging the protesters. In one of his press conferences, Trump warned the peaceful protesters of deploying US National Guards to take control of the streets, this statement also triggered the protesters and as a result, more people came out to protest against his administration. Later in July, Trump falsely tied climbing Covid-19 cases to Black Lives Matter protests, which according to various experts and their data, is not true. The reason why Trump has been so impatient during these demonstrations is that he’s trying to save and maintain his image before the next Presidency Elections start in November. 

 

This Sunday, another black man Jacob Blake was killed by the police, this time in Kenosha, while being arrested he was shot 7 times in the back by a police officer in front of his 3 children. This incident again sparked a huge wave of protests in Kenosha that eventually turned violent. As a result, on Tuesday, a 17-year-old boy self-described militia supporter fired shots and killed 2 people while he was being chased by a group of protesters. He was arrested later by the authorities and will be charged as an adult, but the incident sparked anger among the protesters.

 

America is still burning, with protests and demonstrations happening in various parts of the country, people are gathering to raise their voice against racial discrimination faced by the black people. Tensions are escalating in the country’s most combustible and major cities following the anger people have against the Trump administration over the handling of certain events such as the pandemic, nationwide protests, police brutality, and much more. With increasing Covid-19 cases, elections in the corner, nationwide protests, and the political tussle between Trump and Joe Bidden, it's hard to comment when the situation will get back to normal in America.