The recent incident in America, which killed 46-year-old black American George Floyd, by a white policeman in Minnesota, sparked a wave of protests among black citizens, which led to violence between them and American policemen, who turned into scenes getting wider and moving from one state to another.
According to agencies, observers have seen that the killing of George Floyd is not an isolated incident, and that it indicates the growth of violence, extremism and discrimination in American society against minorities, especially the black minority, and observers point out that the incident has clear indications that racism did not end completely within The United States, despite the image being promoted that American society is blessed with justice and equality and that discrimination is a thing of the past.
It is noteworthy that racial discrimination in America is longer than the life of the country, from the time of slavery to civil war and independence and Abraham Lincoln and the liberation of blacks in the year 1863, the struggle to end racial discrimination was one of the most important components of the modern American state. However, the sediments of racism continued. Then Martin Luther King Jr. and his companions fought civil rights and equality in the 1960s. Although the election of Barack Obama in 2008 constitutes a historic turning point as the first black president of the country, he has not turned the page of racism and racial and class inequality in America today.
And despite the passage of more than one hundred and fifty years since the "Emancipation of Slaves" law, signed by former US President Abraham Lincoln, that black American citizens are still subject to discrimination by the US police establishment and many state institutions.
The murder of Floyd occupied public opinion, and many social media pioneers in the Arab region and the world were busy with it, because it confirms that racial discrimination in America continues against its non white skinned population. Especially since she resembles her details in an incident that occurred in the year 2014, Floyd pleaded and pleaded with the policeman to lift his leg from his neck, and his last words were "I cannot breathe" and his face on the ground. "I can't breathe." The last words in 2014 of a black man in New York, Eric Garner, were also before he strangled during his arrest by police in the city that day.
And launched on social networking sites and international campaigns and campaigns, topped the lists of the most commonly discussed topics in the world, and from these tags issued the BlackLivesMatter tag, supporting the rights of black people, and also issued the name "I cannot breathe", and "George Floyd", which crossed Through them activists express their solidarity with Floyd and their rejection of all forms of violence against black people.
Some of them also launched a campaign, on the communication sites, under the name "The Life of Blacks is Important", in reference to a civil campaign bearing the same slogan to defend the rights of blacks in the United States and the world at large.
On the other hand, social media pioneers recalled what they described as the "icon of combating racial discrimination in America", the black American woman, Rosa Parks, whose case sparked a massive revolution for black citizens in the American South, that led to the abolition of one of the racist laws in America, wondering whether it was " The crime of suffocating "George Floyd" which they described as "hideous" will lead to a similar revolution against the return of racism in America.
One activist said: "It seems that George Floyd will turn into Rosa Parks 21st century and his death will be a milestone in American history." Another question: "Will the case of George Floyd change the situation in America as Rosa Parks did?"
Some activists also confirmed that one person can make the change, referring to them to Parks, and one of them said: “If you don't think that one person or one act can make a difference in society, you have to remember" Rosa Parks "that black lady who She was suffering from apartheid, who refused to leave her seat on the bus to a white person ... her simple and courageous behavior was the reason to change the lives of millions of black Americans. "
This comes at a time when the United States has been rocked by protests over the past five days, many of which have turned violent, as cars and buildings have been set on fire, riot police have used tear gas and rubber bullets, and arrested a number of journalists.
Rosa Parks .. Icon of combating racial discrimination in America
On December 1, 1955, a black American woman named Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat on a bus she was on her way to at her home in Montgomery, Alabama, in the south of the US after she finished a busy day where she was working as a seamstress. State laws at that time stipulated that blacks pay the ticket through the front door and that they board the bus through the back door, and sit in the back seats. As for whites, they have front seats. Rather, the driver has the right to order the black passengers sitting to leave their seats for a white person to sit.
On that day, however, Parks deliberately refused to give up her seat to one of the white passengers and insisted on her position, simply refusing to give up her right to sit on the chair of her choice. The driver summoned the police who arrested her on charges of breaking the law. The accident had a major impact in fueling black feelings against injustice and racial discrimination. Blacks boycotted buses for a whole year.
The case was brought to the highest constitutional body in the United States, and the trial lasted 381 days. In the end, the court passed its ruling, which won the victory of Rosa Parks, and changed the face of the struggle against racism on the basis of color. At the end of 1956, it became the right of blacks to sit in one place with whites and to be given the same rights in all laws. Hence, Parkes dramatically changed the lives of blacks in America, and its challenge is one of the most important steps taken by a black American citizen in order to obtain equal rights for white Americans.