June 10, 2020 | Posted by misfitwanders | America, corruption, Politics, Sweden, Uncategorized, USA
We were told on June 2nd that it will be Blackout Tuesday. With that time, all of us should have searched for reliable information on what has been happening throughout the world and the racism issues. Knowledge is power and this is something I have believed in for a long time. It’s time for us all to stop being ignorant or staying silent. We need to come together and work together. I’m a white American woman that feels everyone is equal, it doesn’t matter your color, age, sex, or LGBTQ.
Since I’m white, I haven’t dealt with what African Americans or other races have dealt with in USA. But I want to understand, and I want to help where I can. I live in Sweden and have been for 3 years. Many people say that this is a haven for all kinds of people, but that is untrue. There are racism issues here too! It’s a worldwide problem. I’ve heard some of my friend’s stories that come from other countries and how it has been for them here in Sweden. Since this happens, no one should turn a blind eye and we should help one another.
Table of Contents
The protests started the day after the murder of African American George Floyd. This is one of several racism issues that have occurred in the US. He was 46 years old and it all happened when he was arrested for a counterfeit $2o. He, like many Americans was laid off due to the virus spreading. Since George Floyd wanted a fresh start, he left Houston, Texas and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. He had a few nicknames with friends, “The Gentle Giant, and Big Floyd”.
George was arrested outside of a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota when he bought some cigarettes. A call was made by the clerk from the store since he suspected the $20 bill was counterfeit. The cops show up, and one of them, Thomas Lane pulls out his gun and orders George Floyd to get out of the car that he was in. There is no explanation as to why he pulled out his gun. Mr. Lane pulls George out of the car, and prosecutors say that George Floyd “actively resisted being handcuffed”.
When he was handcuffed, George became relaxed as Mr. Lane explained to George why he was being arrested (‘passing counterfeit currency’). The officer then had problems getting George into the squad car. George was reluctant to get in since he said to the cops that he was claustrophobic.
Mr. Chauvin arrived to the scene and as the cops attempted to push George in the car, Mr. Chauvin pulled George away from the car and he ended up on the ground face down and still in handcuffs.
George seemed to be in panic mode at this time and this is when witnesses had their phones out and began recording. He was restrained by the officers and Mr. Chauvin placed his left knee right where the neck meets the head on George Floyd.
This is when George Floyd announced, “I can’t breathe.” He repeated this and begged, “please, please, please.”
Mr. Chauvin had his knee there for 8 minutes and 46 seconds says the prosecutors report. The other officers did nothing as George Floyd pleaded for his life.
It was not until 6 minutes into the restraint where George fell silent. That’s when witnesses urged the cops to check his pulse. Officer JA Kueng checked his pulse on George’s wrist and found nothing. The other officers didn’t move an inch. No action was taken by the other officers to help the pleading George Floyd.
After 8 minutes and 46 seconds, Mr. Chauvin finally removed his knee from a motionless George Floyd. This is when he was rolled onto a gurney and was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center in an ambulance.
It was an hour later that they said George Floyd was dead.
This information about George Floyd’s last 30 minutes comes from BBC. I have the link below if you want to check it out.
There are so many cases, and many are not even known of these racism issues. It happens every day in this country, and it seems just recently many people have become fed up. Everyone’s life matters. When someone says Black Lives Matter, they don’t mean that other lives don’t matter. It means that black lives have been struggling with injustices for hundreds of years. They have struggled with not having the freedom that’s given with white privilege. Many don’t even realize how different and how tragic some may have it, just because of their skin color.
Ahmaud Arbery a 25-year-old black man was on a short jog and then was chased and shot at by two white armed men. A father, Gregory McMichael (a former Glynn county police officer) and his son, Travis McMichael in a Southern Georgia coastal neighborhood. No action had been taken. There were no arrests for the death of Ahmaud Arbery. It took months before this was resolved and many had to speak up.
Once The New York Times wrote an article and a video was released of the event, this is when it became more noticed. Celebrities, activists, and finally the Georgia Beruea of Investigation made an appearance on this matter.
Finally, the police arrested the father and son. They are now charged with murder and aggravated assault. Months passed before Georgia Burea of Investigation stepped in and as nothing was being done, videos began sreaming and becoming viral. The Atlanta Journal created a timeline for Mr. Arbery. Ahmaud Arbery was killed in the middle of the day on February 23rd.
This information was found on The New York Times and you can read it here. I’m using reliable information and I want to help you learn more about what has happened in this country.
Here’s another article by The Atlantic explaining about ‘racial contract’ in the events with Ahmaud Arbery. You can check it out here.
Since this event happened when the virus began to spread worldwide. Not as many people heard about what happened to Breonna Taylor. This is something that would have made herds of people in uproar if the virus hadn’t been happening at the same time.
Breonna Taylor a 26-year-old was working as an EMT in Louisville as the virus pandemic swept over the country. It was on March 13, that while Breonna slept after midnight, police officers came into her apartment and shot her as she was in bed at least eight times. Officials say that the officers were executing a drug warrant and that’s why they busted into the apartment unannounced.
It was found according to the lawsuit on April 27th, that the man they had the warrant for didn’t even live in the complex building, let alone in Breonna’s apartment. They had this man detained when police officers came to her apartment. Breonna’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker was at the apartment when this happened and had shot at the officers when they didn’t announce themselves since he thought it was a burglary.
Breonna Taylor had a clean record and was doing nothing wrong. She was sleeping in her apartment and then it happened a sea of bullets. That was the end of Breonna, someone who has never committed a crime.
None of the officers have been charged with the shooting of Breonna Taylor. They say it’s an ongoing investigation right now. We will see what happens, but as of right now, everyone’s life should matter. She needs justice.
This information comes from Washington Post and the 19th (nonprofit newsroom that deals with gender, politics, and policy) and you can read more about this here. Learn more about this case that has gone unnoticed with the pandemic happening.
That is just some of the racism issues and events that have happened in USA recently. If you want to read about more of them, check out NPR. On this article they have links to articles about several different black people that have lost their life unjustly.
Racism issues are a problem throughout many countries. This is not just racial inequality in USA. On top of that, it’s even worse for women than men since that brings in sexism as well. There are several black women that have gone through police brutality and they haven’t gotten justice. So many black men’s names are now being known. But what about the black women?
Throughout the world many other races have had problems, and when gender plays apart, it becomes more likely to be swept under the rug. This is something that no one should be okay with. Everyone is equal, no matter their differences physically or mentally. I’m apart of Feminist Initiative political party in Sweden. So, I believe full heartedly that men and women should be equal. That includes your race, age, and LGBTQ.
If you want to learn more about police brutality towards black women, check out this article written by Time magazine here.
Or you can learn more about history of racism on a global scale in this article. This is from racialequitytools.org.
“People of color are dying because of deadly police practices and excessive checks and controls, not only in the United States, but also here, in Europe”, said Karen Taylor.
Racism issues have been happening over the world for a long time. Within Europe, they have been dealing with it differently in each country. But still, some of it has gone without justice. Since George Floyd protest has begun, it has swept worldwide. Each country has its own issues when it comes to race.
In Brussels, 19-year-old, Adil C. that’s Moroccan background was killed as he fled from police. They were checking lockdown respect. In France, a 34-year-old man named Mohamed G., died from a police stop since he wasn’t following lockdown measures. Countries in Europe have issues with racism and in many places, it seems it’s becoming even more of a problem. I write only about a couple of the cases that have happened in some of the European countries. There are loads that go undocumented or unnoticed.
You can learn about racism in Europe from European Network Against Racism (ENAR) here.
The Stockholm train system is where it all began. On February 3, 2019, a very pregnant black woman was forced off of a train by security guards and pushed onto a bench on her belly. She screamed in pain and her baby was due in a month. This started since she couldn’t find her train ticket and the train host wanted her to get off of the train. The black woman argued and said that she wasn’t feeling well. But security was called in. They took her by the arms and got her out of the train. This is when they forced her onto her belly on a bench. She had her young daughter with who saw all of this happened. There were many witnesses and phones out filming it to validate that she was mishandled.
Here’s an article from New York Times that explains this incident in more detail. I have another article that’s from the Guardian that you can also check out.
In a town known for its diversity had a shooting from a far-right 43-year-old gunman. They have strict privacy laws in Germany, so a name cannot be disclosed. This happened at a hookah bar in February 2020. From this, there was several victims, and many are from families that have been in Germany for generations. One of the victims’ name was Ferhat Unvar. He was a 23-year-old that just went out with some friends. He recently finished training to become a heating system installer.
A rise of far-right people swept over Germany. From 2017 to 2018, 500 more hate crimes and racism issues have been recorded. More racist violent acts are increasing all over Germany and it’s even reaching to the politicians. In June 2020, Walter Lübcke, who was a refugee supporter and a conservative, was shot. A neo-nazi man who had history of violent crimes towards minorities confessed to the murder. Since the Nazi era there hasn’t been any political assassinations until this one. After this happened, security people found that Walter Lübcke was one of several people that are on a hit list.
Germany has one of the strictest gun laws in the world. But they’ve made it even stricter. Right wing movements are growing, and many minorities feel the government is not stepping in enough with the ring wing extremists.
Here is a personal story from a freelancer who moved to Germany and what he went through being black. Check it out here. It will give you an idea of some of the racial issues some must deal with on a daily basis.
New York Times writes about the shooting that happened in Hanau, Germany. You can check it out here to learn more. This is where I found my information.
Adama Traoré, a black man was killed while arrested by police officers in Paris, France in 2016. Since the George Floyd protests have been happening worldwide, 20,000 people in Paris took to the streets as well to stand up for Adama Traoré. The protesters say they fight for more than Traore’s family, they fight for everyone’s equality in the George Floyd protest.
It was Adama Traoré’s 24 year old birthday, so he went out with his older brother, Bagui in northern Paris. They were stopped by two undercover police officers and Adama Traoré didn’t have his papers with him. He didn’t want to deal with going to the station and having to cope with being questioned for a lengthy time, so he fled.
Three cops found him at a nearby apartment that he had ran to and arrested him there. The three of them had their weight on Adama Traoré’s back. Witnesses say that he wasn’t resisting arrest. With all the pressure on Traoré, he couldn’t breathe properly. So he said, “I can’t breathe.”
Once Adama Traoré was taken to the police car, he was fainting and peeing himself. At the police station, fire fighters were called in for medical assistance. Adama Traoré was not left in a recovery position. According to the fire fighters, Adama Traoré was left ‘face-down with no one helping him.’ At 7pm, Adama Traoré was declared dead by the emergency medical team.
This case has taken four years to have the truth come up. The Traoré family finally had an independent autopsy report on Tuesday, June 2nd that said Adama Traoré’s death was caused by arrest techniques. Before this was found out, the first autopsy they had said that Adama Traoré died of a heart attack and had a blood infection. But Adama Traoré had no prexisting medical conditions. Since the Traoré family asked for another autopsy, that one came back with asphyxiation being the direct cause of the death. This went back and forth and 3 doctors claimed that violence wasn’t the cause of death.
The way that this all was dealt with made the family and anit-racist activists suspicious. Because they got that last report in June, protests began happening for George Floyd, Adama Traoré, and for everyone that doesn’t have equal rights. These two men’s lives that were taken in a similar brutal way by the people who are suppose to protect others. Black Lives Matter, everyone’s lives matter!
My information comes from Time magazine. If you want to read their article, you can find it here.
We all need to come together and show our support with Black Lives Matter. In these times, peaceful protests will help get the word out. This is something we can’t let fade away until if feels more resolved. Since USA is going through election time, many eyes are going to be taken away from this worldwide problem. The virus is making it hard for all of us to come together. But there’s still the internet and social media. Use that to your advantage and get your voice out there. Let people know that you’re a supporter. Unity is key and caring for one another is best. Violence against violence solves nothing!
Educate yourself! Learn about all the racism issues that has happened worldwide. Make sure you’re getting your information from a reliable source too. There’s a lot of conspiracy theories and she/he said going on. Research is key to get the valuable information. That’s why I have linked each article or website I have used in this article. You can donate to the cause. Find Black Lives Matter near you and reach out to them to donate or help in some way. There are loads of petitions on Change.org that you can sign if you believe in them. It’s time for us to not stay silent! It doesn’t matter your race, age, gender, or LGBTQ. Everyone has a voice, and everyone should use it!
Usually, I write about hikes within Sweden or the wilderness as I travel. Since there is a spread from George Floyd’s death, I felt that this article needed to be written about global racism issues. So, with this article, I can help people find the information and gain knowledge about what has happened and how racism issues are global problems.
If you need to take a step back an enjoy nature in your spare time, you can check out Hiking in Sweden. Or learn more about me here.
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