The statue of George Floyd was defaced once again in Union City, New York. After a year and a half of racial tension and adversity, there is still so much more work to do.
Being a Black Man in an America Like This
This is America, home of the free and the suppressed. Double standards make up the politics used to govern this country. The laws are unjust; freedom is a luxury for the Black man—he is born on death row.
“To be conscious in an America like this, is to be in constant rage,” said by the late James Baldwin.
To be a Black man in America is to be in constant fear of suffering what happened to Trayvon Martin, to Breonna Taylor, George Floyd.
Object of Oppression
Due to overt systematic oppression and racism, survival for the Black man is for the fittest. The Bureau of Justice Statistics proves that household poverty is caused by need driven crime.
Persons living below federal poverty level hold higher rates of violent victimization. Though poor whites and poor Blacks commit a median of the same style crimes, Black faces overshadow in the media.
Consequently, Black men are vilified and over-represented as “criminals” and “thugs,” opposite of their white male counterparts.
All in all, Black men are reduced and roadblocked, forcing the narrative to perpetrate Blacks for simply trying to survive.
A Petty Crime Resulted in Death
Cup Foods, the corner store in Minneapolis where George Floyd was accused of buying cigarettes with a fake $20 bill.
According to Wisconsin Examiner, the 19-year-old clerk testified in court that he deeply regret taking the bill from Floyd. Although he did not call the police, a coworker did.
Derrick Chauvin and another officer arrives on scene. Things turn for the worse as the officer holds his knee down of Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
Floyd died on the scene.
An Honor Made in Vain
Since his death, many tributes of honor and love sets sail on display for Floyd. However, there are hate cravers who will die before a statue of a Black man goes unharmed.
Chris Carnabuci exhibited his sculpture of George in Union City, New York, only for it to be vandalized a few days later.
The recently installed George Floyd bust in Union Square was vandalized with paint this morning. The statues of John Lewis and Breonna Taylor were unaffected. The police are on their way to the scene to collect fingerprints, as confirmed by a representative from Confront Art. pic.twitter.com/5PBRWBQTBc
— Gwynne Hogan (@GwynneFitz) October 3, 2021
As onlookers arrived at the monument, gray paint defaced the life-sized sculpture.
This is the second instance of the same crime a few days after Juneteenth in Brooklyn.
