Why Videos Speak So Powerfully When Black Men Are Silenced

The latest killing of a Black man by a white police officer demonstrates a level of systemic racism so outrageous that the videotaped crime has trumped ongoing updates of the pandemic claiming global attention. On social media, news reports, and in private conversations, African Americans are openly grieving the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

On Facebook, Atlanta minister Kathi Chavous reposted, “They are killing us, they hate us, we have no value to them, we are not human…”

Jessie Gilton also posted on Facebook. “Tears are rolling down my face to see this brother begging for the officer to let him up.”

In the video, the officer, Derek Chauvin, appears defiant with his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost five minutes during which onlookers are heard telling the officer Floyd is no longer moving. Early in the video Floyd begs for his life, saying, he “cannot breathe.” At one point, Floyd cries out for his mother, all of which is captured on video by witnesses.

A Clear Message

Dr. Lillie Fears, a multi-media communications professor, says smartphones allow citizens to serve as storytellers. And, in the cases of videotaped police brutality and other violence, outrage can drive action by government officials and eventually policy decisions. The recent video of a Georgia father and son killing Armaud Arbery, the 25-year-old unarmed black jogger, is still fresh in the minds of Black Americans who are aware that charges were not filed in the case until the video became public.

In Floyd’s case, the fact that a law enforcement officer is caught on camera in broad daylight and full view of the public acting without any apparent regard for an already-subdued suspect or those raising concern is a contributing factor to the growing horror.

“I think that people realize it’s not a reactment, and it is not a photo that they see on one of these crime shows. They realize they actually watched someone die,” Fears explains. “It’s 24 hours later, and I’m realizing I watched a murder. It is not a scene from Roots or from a Civil Rights movie where you saw them digging up the three civil rights workers, this happened right before my eyes.”

In an interview with CNN, Floyd’s brother, Philonise, says, “They could have tased him, they could have maced him. Instead, they put their knee in his neck and just sat on him and then carried on. He screamed, ‘Momma, momma…I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.’ I just don’t understand what more we gotta go through in life.”

Floyd’s cousin, Tera Brown, is calling for the now-fired officers to be arrested and charged with murder because they did not “lift a finger” to help as the 46-year-old man pleaded for his life.

A diverse crowd of protesters marched in the area where the officer killed Floyd. Despite rain, many continued to gather, and as the crowd turned rowdy, police fired tear gas. It was a repeat of the same scene Black Americans have watched unfold after a police killing.

The morning after Floyd’s death, Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey held a news conference.

“For the better part of the night, I’ve been trying to find the words to describe what happened. And, all I keep coming back to is he shouldn’t have died. What we saw was horrible…completely and utterly messed up. This man’s life matters. He matters,” he said.

With cell phones and social media, Fears explains that “the whole world can happen right before your eyes for better or worse.” She predicts Chauvin’s attorneys will seek to use the video as a justification for his actions.

“We already know who ever becomes the defense lawyer will try everything they can,” she explains. “They’re digging right now to justify why he held that man down and needed to subdue a handcuffed man with his kneel on his neck for that long with other officers watching. They are looking for something they can use.”

But, the court of public opinion is rendering its verdict in real time. While the FBI and other officials investigate, most who have seen the video of George Floyd’s final minutes agree about what they saw. And, it is irrefutable.