What is happening in Minneapolis right now is not the result of a broken system. It is a reasonable reaction to a brutal system that was working exactly as intended. If the job of our law enforcement is to protect and serve, you have to stop and wonder who it is they actually protect and serve. The murder of George Floyd was inexcusable, and yet another in the seemingly neverending series of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of the police. The protests happening in Minneapolis and across the country are the result of the powder keg finally exploding. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “a riot is the language of the unheard.” For too long, the voices of Black Americans have gone unheard. We stand in solidarity with the Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter, as well as other chapters protesting the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade.
There can be no peace without justice. As Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” We are witnessing firsthand the power that a collective voice and collective action can have. Were it not for the Minneapolis riots, Derek Chauvin would not have been charged for murder. Every police officer present must be held accountable, including those like Tao Thou, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng, who stood by and watched as Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd.
America is built upon racial inequality and injustice. Police violence is not the only manifestation of this systemic racism that we’re witnessing. In recent months, Black and Brown communities have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Workers are forced to work for starvation wages because they can’t survive without a single paycheck. Systemic racism is pervasive, and infects every aspect of all of our lives. This needs to end. The systems in place that lead to riots like those in Minnesota need to be torn down, or else no community can truly heal.
If you wish to help, please consider donating to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, North Star Health Collective, the Black Visions Collective, and Reclaim The Block.
-Claire Rodenbush, SGA Executive President