George Floyd was a dark-skinned citizen in the United  States, ready to restart his life after spending four years in jail for burglary and drug possession. He moved to Minneapolis from Houston in 2014 and worked as a truck driver. On May 25, 2020, George allegedly bought a pack of cigarettes using spurious money. The cashier contacted the police after George refused to give the pack of cigarettes back. The senior officer pinned Floyd with his knee to the floor while he handcuffed him. Floyd closed his eyes forever after being ensnared for eight minutes and forty-six seconds. 

A life of an unarmed Black civilian has been taken away by the Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin. Due to this tragedy, Chauvin is facing charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Lane, Kueng, and Thao, the cops aiding Chauvin at the incident, are dealing with second-degree murder. Chauvin is undergoing his consequences for his excessive use of force as a police to give justice to Mr. Floyd. George might have still been alive if it weren’t for the racist mindset of the four policemen. To prevent any more Black deaths by police brutality, change is essential. 

Police play a vital role in the society, providing safety for all citizens and arresting criminals. But, some of these loyal police become criminals because of their biased and narrow mindset. Approximately, 1,000 Black lives have been taken away by police brutality. This may occur due to police officers’ beliefs that they are at a higher standard, or because of their reaction to words they heard. When on duty, all police should be unprejudiced and keep their thoughts aside because their duty is to give equal protection to all.

Chauvin, before kneeling on Floyd's neck, had 18 prior grievances on his record, yet he wasn’t fired until taking a life away. Racism may be part of the reason Floyd died, but another part may be the officers’ knowledge of how crucial one’s life is. In the United States, it takes approximately 2 years to become a cop, and they deal with life and death. Similarly, a doctor, who also deals with life and death, takes 10 years of education to learn the prominence of people's lives. No doctors deliberately garrote anyone because of his or her skin color, but many have died at the hands of cops. The police academies should focus more on teaching the cops to fully comprehend the value of every individual despite their skin color and try to remove racist thoughts that lead to police brutality. 

Derek Chauvin is well informed of the consequences he will face for killing George Floyd, but he didn’t hesitate while kneeling on Floyd’s neck because of a prejudiced attitude against people with dark colors. We have jailed Chauvin, but not his racist behavior, which still exists in the United States despite all the protests. Understanding how a white man’s privilege is different than a Black’s helps us to realize how the country is discriminating against them. Blacks are being more suspected than Whites, because of their skin color, of carrying weapons, but in reality, they don’t have any possession of such things. If we see them equal to whites, we won’t classify all of them as criminals. 

Following Floyd’s death were the protests, which many people thought were to seek justice for George, but actually, it is more severe than that. 

The revolt happening in the United States is to get justice and to stop racist attacks. Racism occurs when a person builds a prejudiced mindset, believing that his or her race is superior to another. This type of judgment is very contagious because it spreads by words. Humans can change quickly by hearing words and the result can lead to attacks. To permanently stop these attacks, the only way is not to be influenced and changed by others’ words without grasping the full story. Chauvin thought Floyd was armed due to his illiberal mindset and led George to his grave. Being narrow-minded and hanging onto one’s words can do great damage, such as taking a life away, or lead to violent protests. A major part to lead to change in the United States is to not be changed into believing that one is in a higher standard than another through words. 

With these violent protests, the loss is ours. Breaking into shops, wrecking roads, and setting fire to trash leads to chaos, not to justice. During this pandemic, many small businesses are struggling, and doing damage to their stores just leads them into more debt to pay for the damage. However, victory can be obtained through peaceful protest. A great idol for nonviolent protests is Martin Luther King Jr. He once said, “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” If getting justice is our goal, then why are we not following it? Before getting justice, we need to follow justice. 

This is not the first time our country has discriminated against African Americans. This started in the Colonial times and continues today. African Americans do have equal rights, but racism denies them those rights. No matter how many laws or amendments the government passes in attempts of equality, it will never happen if it isn’t in our hearts. 

Many parents have said, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” This statement is not followed by racists like Derek Chauvin. Racism wouldn’t continue if people would recognize a Black’s situation and their privileges. 

Racism can be stopped by changing our mindsets to believe that darker skin does not mean a darker personality. After all, a white egg and a brown egg are both the same inside.