Society and Culture

Protests in a democratic society play the role of redirecting the leadership of society to needs that are not being met. The recent protests on black lives matter especially in Minnesota have played the role of redirecting the government to make policies that better handle racism, targeted arrests and police brutality. The photos circulating social media in relation to the murder of George Perry Floyd and the subsequent riots and demonstrations brought thoughts and feelings of anger. The photo of the police kneeling on his throat which cut his air supply and may have been the cause of his death in particular stood out as it is a demonstration of the total disregard the police had for the life and wellbeing of fellow human beings. The pictures of the riots and demonstrations across America were a demonstration of a country in need of better leadership that would care for all the citizens. The images show a nation that is forced to take matters in its hands because its leaders were out of touch with the reality of discrimination of certain communities in the country.

Protests have an effect in realizing changes and especially in a democracy. The fight for equality in the era of Martin Luther King was realized due to persistent riots across cities in America. In a similar way, the riots to end racism and police brutality will have an impact on bringing change to society and the police force. The youth have played a significant role in these movements because they take advantage of social media and other internet forums to spread the need for change in America globally and by doing this, they spread the message to other countries for a unified call for change globally.

The police force in these protests has been seen in different ways. There are police who have joined the protest and are shown in pictures kneeling alongside protesters. Others have been depicted using force on the protesters unprovoked. While there are circumstances that definitely demands police to use force especially when they also have to defend themselves from angry crowds. However, this force should correspond to the need at hand. It cannot be justified for police to use say a baton on a citizen who has already surrendered or is harmless as was the case of George Floyd. The police should have been present in the protest but only as onlookers of the protest to the looting of businesses or fights among different protesters because they still have a responsibility to maintain law and order to the citizens even in demonstrations.

Non-violent protests should be encouraged to achieve change. Most of the protesters in the Black Lives Matter Movement were largely non-violent and this helped to articulate the purpose of the protest without the message being robbed by instances of violence. Due to this peaceful nature of the protests, the world was able to join in the conversation and this was seen in football teams all the way in the UK honouring the movement by wearing jerseys labelled with the name of the movement.

It was concerning that the protest against police brutality and racism coincided with the lockdown measures to curb the spread of Covid-19. Most protesters were of the view that the cause was worth risking health because the issue of police violence is a public health crisis just like Covid-19. I agree with both the concern of epidemiologists because the large crowds that gathered increased the chances of contracting the disease. However, police brutality not only leads to death but also increase psychological and mental apprehension within certain communities which can be linked to many health conditions.

Conclusion

The end police brutality protests in Minnesota have caught up in all parts of the world and that is an illustration of the power of demonstrations. It is time governments started listening to the people’s call out for better policies to regulate the police force.

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