ICHEOKU says was he the savior black people have been waiting for and by whose death their salvation from racism will finally come. He was not their Moses as black people do not want to move back to Africa, they only want to be treated equally with their white counterparts. So, was he foretold by Martin Luther King as he who was to come; and between him and Martin Luther King, which of them is greater and meant more for black people in America? Was Martin Luther King his forerunner just as John the Baptist was to Jesus?
Like Jesus, he was a commoner in life but in death became a prince and huger than anyone could have ever contemplated and imagined. But unlike Jesus, he got a funeral befitting a prince and was mourned globally by a diverse people from different backgrounds, race and religion. His name is now etched in peoples minds. He was buried in a golden casket, driven in a luxury hearse and taken to his final resting place on a horse drawn carriage. His life was celebrated richly. But he has been dead for more than three days and that destroyed whatever claim to the same status as Jesus, admitted the significance of his death to black people, assuming the desire of Black Lives Matter is achieved, will suffice to qualify him as a Messiah in the true sense of the word and of course, for black people.
Yes indeed, if by George Floyd's death racism ends in America, then he would have saved black people and thus rightly earned the title. But it is too early to be hopeful, admitted nothing is likely to change beyond the cosmetic outbursts of support and feigned understanding of the plight of black people by some politicians, such as Mitt Romney, who are seeking to milk the sorrow for their own political gain among black voters.
But why was George Floyd's death so riveting, afterall he was not the first black person to be killed by the police, neither was he the first black man to be publicly strangled to death by the police. Could it be because his own strangulation took a long time to accomplish and as he lay dying, uttered so many words which impacted different people in so many different ways. Could his cry for his mother for help have touched mothers everywhere in a special way that could relate to him as their own child crying for help. Even female animals with young ones act so protectively around them and George Floyd knew that his mother would have risked it all to rescue him, the reason he did not call his father or brothers and sisters.
ICHEOKU says nothing is more sacred to mothers than the product of their wombs and mother bears are known to have killed people who wander too close to their cubs; ditto many other wild animals. Imagine what George Floyd's mother would have done to the killer cop Derek Cauvin, were she within earshot of her son cry for help and seeing the policeman trying to suffocate her son to death. ICHEOKU believes she would have charged and bum-rushed officer Derek off her son's neck even at a great risk to her personal safety, including the possibility of being shot or arrested for assaulting a police officer. It comes to them naturally, the maternal instinct; and it does not matter the specie as motherhood is expressed by all mothers the same way, protectively. Mothers love the product of their children and nothing ever comes between them and their children, not even the man who impregnated them with those children.
But unfortunately, George Floyd's cry for help to his mother could not be heard from her grave, hence he couldn't be saved. By dying he achieved fame and has become world famous, his name permanently etched in history. His name was heard and mentioned globally; Senators and members of Congress and even a country's leader knelt in honor. He will now live forever as a legend for the cause, but will his death bring about desired changes or even end racism in America?
Will he be soon forgotten, swept away under the rug of society like the many others before him now that he is deep six and no longer "threatening" or "intimidating" to anybody? Will society just move on to the challenges of living and away from the tragedy that was his murder in Minneapolis. Just as Jesus by dying purchased forgiveness of sin for mankind, will George by dying, purchase equality, respect and dignity to black people in America and in a some way put an end to racism.
ICHEOKU says is not optimistic because what drives the hatred of others is deeper than all the patronizing sanctimonies and public displays of the past several days. Racism is not just about the police killing black people, it is much broader than that and cuts through society's entire body fabric. The question remains how his death will change anything in America. Will white people now begin to move to black neighborhoods because George Floyd was murdered?
Will white people now freely share the same space with black people? Will white people now employ black people in their companies and businesses? Will white people now attend black churches? Will white people now send their children to black schools, colleges and universities? Will white people who control Wall Street now open it up and allow black people to share in their pots of gold? Will white people ever elect another black president? Will white people now freely mingle with black people?
Will black people now head security agencies including any of the three branches of the armed forces, admitted that President Donald John Trump just broke the record by appointing General Edwin Brown as the first Air Force chief. Will black people start getting loans at a fair interest rate? Will black people start getting apartments in any neighborhood they desire without being told the apartment has been rented an hour ago?
Will black people get mortgage loans as easily as their white counterparts. Will store attendants stop training their eyes on black people as they enter their stores and shops? Will white bimbos stop calling the police on black people for no reason just like the girl with a dog in New York? Will white colleagues at the office or factory stop conspiring against fellow employees who are black and lying against them to get them fired?
Will white parents now freely accept their daughter's date who is black and without reservation offer their blessings should they want to marry each other? Will blacks start being paid equally as their white counterparts? Will black people start being elected governors, senators more regularly? Will white parents allow their children to play freely with black children in parks and permit their sleeping over in black neighborhoods?
Will the judiciary start being fair in handing out sentences to black people? Will the Joe Biden's 1994 Crime Bill which punished white people's cocaine possession differently from black people's crack cocaine possession never again be allowed in America? Will black people ever head the United States Treasury, the Army, the CIA or the FBI? So, what exactly changed or will change because George Floyd was murdered and his funeral celebrated so publicly.
The road ahead to banishing racism in America is long and it is strewn with thongs. The task is also arduous and unrelentingly difficult, if not impossible, will be the effort. Were racism just one thing or an object, it will be very easy to extirpate. But no, it is woven in everything in the American society and ingrained in the subconscious of the white people, many of who usually profess they are not racist but everything they do is racist.
They don't have black friends, they don't live in black neighborhoods, their children don't go to black schools, they don't hire black people, they don't go to black church, they don't attend black events, they don't eat at black restaurants nor black food, they don't wonder why there are no black faces on television or playing a lead role in movies or television characters; they don't have black spouses or children who are colored. But they will still tell you they are not racist simply because they do not mouth off what their heads an hearts are thinking.
With his death George Floyd drew more attention to what is entrenched in the American society, the racial struggle. But before him were Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Rosa Park, Michael Jackson, Prince, Johnny Cochran, who had to hire the protection services of the Nation of Islam just because he successfully defended OJ Simpson and so many others who risked it all. But did their sacrifices result to the dismantling of the structural racism in America, no.
So, until all the racial walls are completely broken down, all the noise and pretentiousness will not a thing solve. Mitt Romney after showing up in the march, will still go back to his whites only exclusive neighborhood. He will still not make any black friend nor invite a black family over for dinner. He will still not give a black person scholarship nor hire them for jobs. Ditto Nancy Pelosi who will still return to her Pacific Heights San Francisco nearly whites only neighborhood. But they are good at putting up a show as the great pretenders they are.
Racism is as old as America and everybody knows about it. Black people have been lynched, killed, dragged to death behind trucks, strangled, shot and are still being killed, so why the George Floyd's special? Everybody knows the game these politicians are playing with black people, believing that black people are too dumb to know any better or that both parties are just using them to maintain their power hold on American people.
The two political parties are technically two sides of the same coin, admitted the Democrats are better at masking their inner intentions. They are riding black people like donkey in order to maintain their hold over them and anyone in doubt should ask yourself why Hillary Clinton did not pick Cory Booker as her vice presidential running mate in 2016, the same reason Joe Biden will not pick a black woman this 2020.
What is in America lasted a long time and it will not just disappear just because George Floyd was murdered. He was not the first to be killed, neither will he be the last as more people have been killed since his death on Memorial Day, admitted their names were not even heard. The murder of Jesus did not make Jews become believers and so ICHEOKU is not expecting anything tangible coming out from George Floyd's death. It is the tragedy of black peoples life in America and their lives do not really matter, the reason they are making the effort to make it matter.
But unfortunately, it is just an effort and like a tidal wave which comes and goes, every incident will always bring the outpouring and sloganeering which evaporates as soon as the victim is buried. George Floyd is now buried, may he now rest. Lets hope that his death somewhat softened the resistance to a fully racially integrated America to make America truly united, admitted the "United" stands for the unity of the States and not the people. Adieu George.
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