George Floyd, an African-American man, died at the hands of police in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
Video of the tragedy showed a police officer kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes, even as Floyd pleaded for mercy and said, "I can't breathe." The officer has been charged, and charges against other officers are under consideration.
In the following days, protests spread from Minneapolis across the country. Protests that were peaceful have turned violent and deadly, with conflicting reports about who is responsible for looting and fires from Los Angeles to Boston.
Vigils and Virtual Town Hall on Race
Tuesday, June 2: Here in Alexandria, there is a vigil to #EndWhiteSilence Tuesday, June 2, at 6 p.m. Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a chapter of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice, is hosting the vigil to show that George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s murderers were not just rogue cops, but they represent underlying conditions of racist policing. Attendees are asked to wear masks and practice social distancing. Learn more about the vigil here.
In addition, there is a virtual town hall meeting titled "Facing Racism. Demanding Change." right after the Tuesday vigil to #EndWhiteSilence.
The 7 p.m. Tuesday virtual town hall will honor Floyd, and provide an opportunity for residents to share their voices. The event will feature a panel of civic leaders, including Living Legend and Activist Joyce Rawling; Councilman John Taylor Chapman; Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings Jr.; and Alexandria youth leader Kamryn Powell. The panel will be moderated by the City’s Race and Social Equity Officer, Jaqueline Tucker. Community breakout sessions will be held during the town hall to address next steps.
The event, co-sponsored by ACT for Alexandria, will be hosted online at zoom.us/j/95162556812 or by phone at 312.626.6799 (Meeting ID 951 6255 6812)
Thursday, June 4: A peaceful vigil is planned for 7 p.m. Thursday, June 4, for George Floyd and others who have lost their lives because of the color of their skin. The event will start in the parking lot of Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St. Learn more about the planned event here.
Statements from Local Officials
Monday, the Alexandria Police Department posted this video (and you can read a letter from Police Chief Michael Brown here).
Mayor Justin Wilson posted a long statement on Facebook, and Sheriff Dana Lawhorne sent out a statement on the recent events. Here they both are:
From Sheriff Lawhorne:
As a law enforcement officer for over 41 years I can say unequivocally that the actions taken by the former police officers in Minneapolis that caused the death of George Floyd were inexcusable. No law enforcement officer has ever been trained to take the actions that those officers took; they have been trained to do the exact opposite. The ultimate responsibility of a law enforcement officer is to preserve and protect the lives of ALL members of the community they serve.
This event is a tragic reminder that we, as law enforcement officers, must do more to hold each other to the high standard of conduct that is expected and demanded by those we serve. We cannot stand by and remain silent when unacceptable conduct by our peers occurs, no matter how minor or major it is. We must be better for ourselves and our community as lives depend on it. I can assure you that this has been and always will be my message to my staff.
As Sheriff, I am given the gift of protecting and serving our community. I have always considered it a duty and an honor. It disturbs me when I see others abuse that power. There is no room for people like this in law enforcement.
From Mayor Wilson (see the post and comments on his official Facebook page here):
Collectively, we have again been witnesses to a black man’s murder by a public servant sworn to protect and serve. I have struggled over the past few days to figure out the right words to say in response. We look to leaders with a performative expectation to fill the void with wisdom and a suggested path forward. As leaders we scour the internet for wise quotes, search for articles, looking for anything that might give those that we serve a reason to be hopeful.
But I got nothing.
Those who know me, know that I am prone to bulleted lists of policy answers for the problems that face our community. Perhaps, to a fault. I could certainly cite our racial equity initiative, our work to bring more transparency to policing, the plans for body-worn cameras in our future, work to ensure diversity in our police force, our efforts to train public safety employees in de-escalation techniques and our community policing initiatives. But we have heard all of this before.
Checklists do not solve this problem. We are called upon to uproot a culture of white supremacy woven into our founding as a nation, perpetuated through law and custom for generations, and present today in even the most “progressive” communities in our country, including Alexandria. That is a culture of white supremacy that devalues black lives and ignores the impact of hundreds of years of history on the present.
The on-going COVID-19 outbreak has exposed one aspect of the disparities that exist in our City, as residents of color have been more infected, struggle more to recover and die more than our white residents have. This is not because the virus is racist. It is because generations of disparities of every kind have created deep racial divides in health conditions and healthcare access.
In our City there are deep racial divides in wealth. This is not because the actors in our economy are all racists. It is because generations of disparities of every kind have built an economy that perpetuates wealth for those who have it and hinders social mobility for those that lack it.
A few months ago a homeowner in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in our City pulled me aside and showed me the early 20th century restrictive covenant that he had unearthed for his home. That document stated that “no lot or any part thereof shall ever be sold, leased to or occupied by any person of the negro race.” This was the line after the document stated that “pigs, poultry, cows and goats” could also not be kept on the premises. While those agreements, and the subsequent “redlining,” “steering’ and other insidious tactics have been illegal for decades, their legacy can safely predict how and where Alexandrians in the year 2020 live, work, learn and play.
In wealth, in education, in housing, in health and in justice, our City is full of inequities, some glaring, some subtle.
When we fix that, we will truly be doing something to honor George Floyd and the many that have preceded him and those that will likely follow him.
