How the Murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor Keep Trauma on Repeat

Today’s arrest of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin answered the first round for justice sought by an outraged Black America after video showed Chauvin, who is white, knelt for more than five minutes on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man already handcuffed and subdued. And, while social media timelines and headlines spread news of Chauvin’s arrest, many African Americans are concerned about the judicial system’s long-term commitment to securing a conviction in the case.

“I’m glad Chauvin has been arrested,” Lowell Deo, a black man who lives in Seattle, said. “My cynicism says it’s political expediency over an obvious move towards what is right. But, I guess, I’ll take it.”

Many African Americans have described the two-step exercise involving optimism and resignation following yet another Black life taken by a white police officer as exhausting.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden, who spoke with the Floyd family today, underscored the nation’s history of violence toward Black men, women, and children, speaking to the generational trauma it perpetuates.

“The original sin of this country still stains our nation today, and sometimes we manage to overlook it,” he said. “We just push forward with the thousand other tasks in our daily life, but it is always there. And, weeks like this we see it plainly. That we are a country with an open wound.”

The psychic toll on African Americans has been documented throughout the decades while institutionalized racism has continued to claim lives, opportunities, and metaphorically the very breath of an entire community.

Sociologist Dr. Veronica Newton explained, “I think a lot of people don’t know the true depth of racism and white supremacy because it’s not taught. Blacks have been terrorized for centuries by whites. There’s never been a time black people have been safe from white terror.”

Newton cited the “emotional labor” Black Americans are forced to engage in daily to survive a country where “racism is the foundation.”

She said, “It’s retraumatizing us even if it’s not our experience. The fact that we know it could be any of us any day causes us to worry. Black people play out thousands of scenarios in their heads just to go to the grocery store, to the gas station. That is the emotional labor brought on by white terror. It is a lot.”

Political Collateral Damage

Floyd’s murder is already a flashpoint for the upcoming election with news reports pointing to the officer’s record of misconduct and another case where a black man in his custody was killed while Amy Klobuchar, currently under consideration as Biden’s Vice-Presidential nominee, served as prosecutor in Minneapolis. By the time Chauvin’s case was heard, Klobuchar had taken the oath of office as one of the U.S. Senators from Minnesota. Her record as prosecutor in Minneapolis revealed a preference to send cases involving police officers to a grand jury where they are rarely indicted.

In the first 24 hours after Floyd’s killing, President Donald Trump called for justice. His shift toward an empathic tone was temporary and by Wednesday, after some protesters were seen looting, he tweeted, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” According to NPR, the “looting” phrase Trump used can be traced to a white police chief during the 1960s who promoted segregation (https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/864818368/the-history-behind-when-the-looting-starts-the-shooting-starts).

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed Floyd’s murder and the March killing of Breonna (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/us/louisville-protest-shooting-breonna-taylor.html) Taylor at the hands of Louisville, Kentucky police, saying the officer look “pretty darn guilty” (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/29/mitch-mcconnell-police-officers-guilty-george-floyd-288915). Taylor was shot in her apartment when police delivered a “no-knock” search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation. The FBI is investigating both cases.

Photo Credit: Forbes