Floyd Everywhere

“Democracy dies in Darkness.” – Such strong was the statement displayed at the end of a video reconstruction of the set of events published by the Washington Post. These events were related to the recent case of police brutality against the people of color in the United States of America. The statement has since been at the front of the website of the paper, creating ripples in the extremely faulted social fabric.

The USA takes pride in calling itself the world’s oldest democracy. However, the George Floyd episode has highlighted the weaknesses inherent in the democratic model considered as one of the best in the world. It was not just a man who died under the knee of an officer, but an equal individual dying under the knee of the state. The other factor involved in the case was the stereotyping of Blacks. Max Weber, a German Philosopher, defined the modern state as a community that claims monopoly over violence in an area. The Floyd incident is one such example of the state’s excesses against the citizens. It also brings to the center the debate that the people need to fight for their rights.

While the Floyd incident stands at the fore as an eye opener for those who claim that the twenty-first century is the example of “equal society”, this is not the only case to have done so. There are numerous cases of violation of the rights of the people that are often ignored. Almost every country has seen at least one Floyd losing his life at the helm of the state’s abuse of power. A good example of this is the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. The causes of his murder were completely different, but he too was a victim of the state he owed his allegiance to. His girlfriend waited outside the embassy for him while he was chopped inside. Insensitive as it may sound, but it is the harsh truth.

The other important aspect of the case was the white supremacy. Discrimination among human beings is one of the prime issues we face. God made us alike, we adopted to our surroundings, and this is how we have become. Even the greatest of men had a racial mindset. Although the context was different, in the words of Aristotle, who is considered to be one of the wisest men on Earth, the masters have every right of ruling their slaves. This is one of the ideas that the white supremacists have often agreed to and relied on. The situation is so grave that New Zealand saw its one of the worst terrorist attacks on the grounds of white supremacy.

In isolation, these two statements might not seem so dangerous. “Oh, but they have courts!”, “Not everyone is a racist!” might be the common counters to the problems. But let us try combining these two problems. Yes, they have courts and not all of them are racist. But don’t you think that even a single court with a racial mindset is a huge threat to the society? In isolation they appear to be problems not so dangerous, but club them together and they join the league of evil.

A stark reality of the USA lies in the presidential elections of the country. On one hand, there have been 45 Presidents in the United States so far, and on the other, only one person of color became a president. How can it be possible that in such a long history of democracy, only one color is able to walk the path to the White House? Why is not even a single person of color a part of the executive staff of the current POTUS? Perhaps these questions will have to die a slow death without any answer.

The image seems too gloomy now, and even I do not like to paint such a negative image. Definitely things have improved compared to the past. People are able to exercise their rights in better fashion compared to the past, but we need to realize that the fight is not over yet. We are not yet an equal society as claimed by many. There is a strong need for us to multiply our efforts in bringing people together and establishing a social order that we generally read about in the books. The ground reality needs to conform to the standards envisaged. The idea that will help us understand this current situation was well explained by George Orwell in his book “Animal Farm”. He phrased it beautifully as, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”