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Under the slogan “Take the knee off our neck,” protesters gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday, where exactly 57 years ago civil rights activist Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech (“I have a dream “) had kept.
“One knee is pressing on the neck of democracy and our nation can no longer live without the oxygen of freedom,” King’s son, Martin Luther King III, said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. He called for a change in American society. “Rhetoric and marches” alone are not enough.
The march was organized after the death of the African American George Floyd in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis at the end of May, the chosen date was the 57th anniversary of the King’s speech. A white police officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, despite the 46-year-old complaining more than 20 times that he couldn’t breathe.
The brutal death of the father sparked protests against racism and police violence across the country. Floyd became a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Family members of Floyd and relatives of other African American victims of police violence gave speeches at the rally on Friday. “I wish George was here to see this,” said Philonise, Floyd’s brother, who struggled to hold back tears during his speech. “My brother can’t be a voice today,” said Bridgett, Floyd’s sister. “We have to be that voice. We have to be the change.”
Jacob Blake’s father, who was seriously wounded by seven police bullets in the back last Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, also appeared at the rally. He complained that the United States had “two judicial systems,” one for whites and one for blacks. “All blacks in America are going to get up. We are fed up. I’m fed up.”
Police violence against African Americans has caused outrage in the United States for years. There have been a number of headline incidents since the beginning of the year.
The Black Lives Matter protests have long been a central theme of this year’s presidential election campaign. For months, President Donald Trump has focused on the violent clashes that have repeatedly overshadowed the protests. The self-proclaimed “president of law and order” speaks of acts of “anarchists and looters” and calls for tough action by the security forces.
Critics accuse the right-wing populist of ignoring and belittling the underlying problem of racism in the country. In his nomination speech Thursday night, the president condemned, among other things, the riots in Kenosha after the police shootings of Jacob Blake; however, so far he has not said a word about the shooting itself.
His rival Joe Biden of the Democratic opposition, on the other hand, had expressed his understanding for the anger of African Americans in the country and promised to fight racism and police violence if he won the election.
Down tied to the hospital bed?
African American Jacob Blake, who was seriously wounded in the back by police shooting, is apparently handcuffed to his hospital bed. “Why do you have this cold steel on my son’s ankle?” Blake’s father asked on CNN on Friday. “He can’t get up, he couldn’t get up even if he wanted to.”
Blake’s uncle spoke of an “insult.” “He is paralyzed and cannot walk, and they chain him to the bed. Why?”
The governor of the state of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, had already shown incomprehension about the security measure on Thursday. “Personally, I don’t understand why it should be necessary,” said the American Democrat. “I wish we could find a better way to help him recover.” Chains seem like “bad medicine” to him.
A white police officer seriously wounded Blake Sunday in the town of Kenosha, Wisconsin, with seven shots in the back at point-blank range. The incident, captured on cell phone video, sparked new protests against police violence and racism. Blake is currently paralyzed, according to his family and attorneys, and may never be able to walk again.
