Review by Mark Langabeer (Hastings and Rye CLP)
It is over a year since the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. It sparked a protest movement in The USA not seen since the civil rights movement over 50 years ago. Sky News recorded a programme, shown on 27th May, that asked whether there had been any fundamental changes since his death – George Floyd: from Murder to Justice
Narrated by David Oyelowo, the programme began with Floyd’s background. A cousin and childhood friend stated that George was popular and a good athlete who kept out of trouble for most of his teens. He was from a low-income family and got in with the wrong crowd. He had a number of convictions over a ten-year period. He moved to Minneapolis and worked as a security guard and other jobs in the neighbourhood. On this particular day, he entered a local shop and bought cigarettes with a fake $20 note and the police were called. It ended with Floyd being pinned to the ground with a police officer’s knee on his neck. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Death at the hands of the police, was not uncommon. However, the events leading up to Floyd’s death were recorded and the knee restraint lasted over nine minutes, despite clear cries from Floyd was that he was unable to breathe. This sparked rioting and protests which involved hundreds of thousands of Americans. It also sparked demonstrations across the pond in Britain and Europe.
White Supremacy
The programme gave a brief account of the legacy of white supremacy which it said was the foundation of America. It also dealt with the struggle for civil rights during the 1960s. The arrest of Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, for third degree murder and his subsequent conviction was a product of the black lives matter movement that followed.
However, as a number of contributors pointed out, it’s just the beginning of bringing justice to black Americans. Before the trial of Chauvin, it emerged that he had 19 previous complaints, but no disciplinary actions were ever taken. During the trial, there had been another controversial killing of a black man by Minneapolis Police officers. A former police officer described the police force as institutionally racist. Dozens have been killed since the death of George Floyd.
A civil rights activist pointed out that the pro Trump demonstrators who stormed Capitol Hill had been given a light touch approach by law enforcers, despite the death of a police officer. This only reinforces the perceived injustices of the US legal system. Biden has promised to introduce a law which allows cases like the killing of Floyd to be tried by Federal courts, rather than by the states. It is hoped that sentencing would be stronger in such courts
Disappointed
Oyelowo interviewed Martin Luther King’s grandson, who suggested that if he were alive today, he would be disappointed with the progress made over the past 50 years. King understood that civil rights meant social justice as well as equality in legal rights. He coined the phrase that for the poorest, it’s like cashing a cheque with insufficient funds. The vast majority of those in jail, of whom 40% are black, are at or below the poverty line. In the poorest areas, there’s nothing to lose from leading a life of crime.
Although the documentary was good at pointing to the success and the failures of the BLM movement, it fails to provide a programme that can provide social justice. Only a socialist programme that ends a system of private profit, can genuine equality for all can be made a reality.
