My first response to this question is to say, “Stop it!” That’s really how I feel when I hear that question.
What black people are you around that are making George Floyd into a hero? Who are you talkin to? Where are you hanging out at that you are seeing all these black people create a hero out of George Floyd?
When I think of a hero, I think of someone who has an ability, or power, or something life-saving that I wish I could do, or be like. A hero is someone that I would want to pattern myself after, and I don’t know many people that are running around saying, “I want to be like George Floyd.” I don’t see people with t-shirts on. I’m not seeing people on television. So, where is that question coming from?
Now, you’ve been seeing people protesting and marching because of his death. Because for black people, we looked at that and saw something that should not have happened. There is no excuse. There is nothing you can say that validates someone kneeling on top of another person until they die, and that’s what we saw.
That’s not making him into a hero. For African-Americans, that’s looking at George Florida and saying, “My God, that could have been me.” It’s recognizing that someone could pull me out of my car over $20, and that it could really happen. It is seeing police officers, four of them there, and this still happened. There were people around, and it still happened. There were people video recording, yelling “Get off of him, he can’t breathe!” And it still happened. This was a grown adult man crying for his mother, and it still happened. So, that’s not something that I’m making a hero out of.
I can name heroes: Jesus is a hero. Superman is a hero. We can go down a list of heroes, but I’m not seeing George Florida as a hero. I’m not seeing him as a martyr for the cause. I’ve heard people saying, “You’re treating him like a martyr.” No, we’re treating him like a man who died that should not have. He should still be here. Even if he was in jail. Even if he did what they said he did, he should have had his day in court. He should have gone through the system, whether it was a fine, a ticket, County jail or whatever. He should have had that opportunity, as opposed to dying in the street that way.
No, we’re treating him like a man who died that should not have.
So, we’re not upholding him as a hero. I challenge that. Where are you finding these black people at? And if you say Candice Owens, I’m going to throw something. Don’t listen to her! But, where are the rest of these black people at, that you are seeing this from? That you are saying they are calling him a hero? Because, I don’t know one who is saying that.
What I do see are people that are hurting. People who are tired and upset. People who saw something happen which many of us have been saying for a long time, “It’s been happening.” And we all literally said, “That it, that’s enough. We’re not dealing with it anymore.” And then for a lot of my white brothers and sisters, they saw it and realized for maybe the first time, maybe Black people haven’t been lying. And they came out in force as well, because all of us looked at that situation and said that was wrong.
