Why Can't We Listen

It took nine minutes, full of pleas from spectators and the victim himself, for Derek Chauvin to kill George Floyd. Why didn’t Derek Chauvin listen?

It took three days, full of protests and chants for liberation, for our president to berated these change-makers, labeling them as thugs. Why didn’t the self-proclaimed leader of the free world just listen to his people, instead of trying to tarnish their image?

The government fired tear gas and bullets at peaceful protesters,  an act of terrorism that has worked to divide the country- and highlight the need for the protests in the first place. Why would we rather kill our own people than just listen to them?

Both George Zimmerman (murderer of Trayvon Martin) and Derek Chauvin had prior complaints against them, and had shown dangerous, illegal tendencies. Why didn’t our justice system listen to them, and find them unfit for their jobs?

Langston Hughes wrote in 1936, “O, let my land be a land where liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, but opportunity is real, and life is free, equality is in the air we breathe.”  Why, in the 84 years since this quote, have we not truly listened as a society?

The police, as demonstrated in the diagram below, are obviously flawed and misguided. Why, in 2019 was a day without police brutality, a rare occasion? George Floyd and the events that have unfolded in the last month have highlighted these statistics. Why couldn’t we listen, and work towards equality without being prompted?   

To me, listening does not mean being complacent, by any means. To me, listening means letting everybody who previously didn’t have a voice, speak with conviction. Listening means letting what the oppressed population says truly resonate with me. Listening means factoring these situations and calls for help into my everyday life. Listening means an outcome of freedom and opportunity for everybody. Listening means adapting and improving.

Going forward, a higher level of common respect, and mutual attentiveness needs to be emphasized. These pressing times will go down in history, and without listening, our elected officials and governmental leaders will tarnish this time period, both as a missed opportunity for equality, and a record of neglecting civic responsibility.

Now, more than ever, is a time for everybody to listen- we have both a human responsibility, and a set of patriotic ideals to uphold. The suffering and inequality that our country has experienced is unfathomable, yet we have an opportunity now to work towards progress. As a society, why can’t we listen and let the message of the oppressed resonate with us?