From Just Security:
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a special Just Security “Racing National Security” symposium edited by editorial board member Matiangai Sirleaf. The goal of the symposium is to render race visible in national security to shift the dominant paradigm toward addressing issues of racial justice.)
An eerie metaphor overlaps the murder of George Floyd and the global pandemic known as coronavirus or COVID-19. As the viral video of Floyd’s tragic murder so graphically reveals, he could not breathe. Gasping for air and grasping for life itself, Floyd pleaded for help and ultimately his mother. His breathless solicitations wafting forth, unacknowledged; pleas finding no safe harbor. No relief availed him. Asphyxiation would soon settle in, robbing Floyd’s heart of oxygen. Predictably, death would follow.
As Officer Derek Chauvin (then a veteran on the Minneapolis Police Department) demonstrated to fellow officers and onlookers, in 8 minutes and 46 seconds, one can meticulously induce asphyxiation with the precision of a surgeon harvesting a heart. As if performing a well-rehearsed role for the crowd of onlookers and the camera itself, Chauvin maintained composure, knee on Floyd’s neck, and hands in pocket. His masterpiece was the murder of Floyd — and many of us watched — either in part or the whole horrific performance. >> Continue reading
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