Black America’s new “hero” is a victim. George Floyd statues are springing up around the country, and many are wondering about the message they are sending to black communities. Are they merely memorializing the tragic death of a violent, drug-abusing criminal who died after the inexcusable behavior of an arresting officer? Or are they an attempt to create a new kind of ‘martyr’ meant to enshrine a religiose belief in omnipresent ‘structural racism’ with the aim of demoralizing and radicalizing black Americans?
Sports journalist Jason Whitlock is weighing in on the debate about the meaning of the George Floyd statues, which have new relevance after the sentencing of arresting officer Derek Chauvin to 22.5 years in prison for second-degree homicide.
“The deification of George Floyd harms black people and America,” Whitlock writes at The Blaze.
“The statues unveiled last week in Newark, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, that memorialize the final nine minutes of George Floyd’s life denigrate and diminish the reputation of black men,” he continued. “George Floyd was a victim — of his drug addiction, self-destructive behavior, and Derek Chauvin’s misconduct.”
Whitlock argues that Floyd is not a role model for black people, or any Americans for that matter, regardless of the horrific incident that occurred shortly before his life ended. In addition to the physical distress of the arrest that was displayed in a shocking video, Floyd had consumed a lethal dose of fentanyl. Deifying the tragically flawed Floyd on a scale unseen since Martin Luther King sends the message there are not worthier heroes for young black people to emulate. It is damaging — whether social activists intend it to be or not.
“Floyd is not Jesus. He’s not Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or Medgar Evers, black men who died tragically in service of promoting racial fairness,” Whitlock points out. “Floyd isn’t Crispus Attucks, the first man killed in America’s Revolutionary War. Floyd isn’t Emmett Till, an innocent victim of anti-black bigotry.”
“Floyd isn’t any of the black men I know who are terrific fathers, husbands, providers, and protectors. Floyd isn’t ‘Uncle Jimmy,’ my media sidekick, whose primary job is father to his young sons, James and Jamill,” he continued.
“George Floyd is a prop corporate media uses for attention, a pawn liberal politicians use to push policy, and a punching bag social activists use as a symbol to explain black people and promote themselves,” Whitlock lashed out. “A prop, a pawn, and a punching bag.”
“That is not the recipe for deification and statues. It’s a recipe for the impugnment of the character, integrity, and reputation of black people,” he added. Whitlock had much more to say, but in sum, he wants the statues to be torn down.
“How does the George Floyd statue paint black men?” Whitlock asks. “The statue in Newark has Floyd seated on a park bench wearing a ‘wifebeater’ shirt. I’m shocked the sculptor didn’t put a crack pipe in one hand and a 40-ounce of beer in the other.”
“The statues of Floyd need to be torn down immediately,” he added. “They’re racist.”
That is certainly a clarion call for many who are too afraid to challenge the fanatical Woke left. It is highly questionable that Floyd is not simply being remembered for his tragic life and death, but is instead being exalted as a martyr and near-messianic figure.
It is yet another attempt by the progressive left to create a secular religion to replace true religion. The George Floyd statues do not send a message of emancipation, but one of paternalization. They are meant to enshrine in the minds of Black America that they are perpetually the victims, and cannot rise above the ‘structural racism’ that will forever hold them down.
It’s a persuasive enough message for people whose communities have been run by Democrats for decades, but are nonetheless plagued by drug abuse, violent crime, intergenerational poverty, and worst of all, hopelessness. However, it is not one that stopped Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and Clarence Thomas, among many others, from accomplishing the goals they set out to achieve.
The Democrats are seeking scapegoats for the disastrous effects of their policies, and who better to frame than the ‘white people’ who are successful elsewhere, but who have no direct control over those environments? It should be noted that it was never shown in court how Chauvin’s actions were racially motivated. The disconnect between that small fact and the massive claims about how Chauvin’s actions represent all of ‘white America’ attempting to ‘knee on the necks’ of black Americans is a gaping chasm. It is a Big Lie — and a defamatory and incendiary one at that.
The George Floyd statues seize upon an exceedingly rare tragic incident and signify it as an existential fact of life for Black America. It is all the left has to offer instead of actual results.
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OPINION: This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.