Dispatches from Quarantine:
Young People on Covid-19

Dispatches from Quarantine journal
The effects that police brutality and racism has brought upon our world today:

Lately every morning I’ve woken up and seen something negatively affecting this world we’re living in. The year 2020 has been extremely difficult. It’s consisted of a global pandemic that has required an immediate stay at home quarantine causing students to miss the last three months of education in a classroom, along with seniors missing their graduation ceremonies. The worst part of this situation is the death increase every day, the pain that many face with the loss of their loved ones and the overall acceptance of death until a cure is found. 

And just as many believed it could not get any worse, George Floyd was murdered by four police officers. George Floyd was a 46-year-old black male; he had a job as a bouncer at a restaurant until he was let go due to coronavirus. He has a son, a life, and within the span of 17 minutes was murdered because of the color of his skin and the “power” that the police force has been bestowed with. He was allegedly accused of using counterfeit money to pay for a pack of cigarettes. Instead of handling the situation with the proper police protocol, the officers took a series of actions that later turned fatal. He was pinned to the ground and treated like an animal; he did not resist or even verbally attack the officers in any way yet was still treated the way he was. 

The inhumane actions of these “protectors” costed this poor man his life, and at the end of the day, I begin to realize these actions were not an accident. The Minneapolis police department policy clearly states an officer can only use that disgusting tactic if one is “actively resisting.” The videos that had been collected from bystanders and at a restaurant both display Floyd doing as he was told; although shaken by what was occurring, he handled the situation very well and showed no aggression towards anyone. Police brutality has occurred for years, yet there has been no real change within the system and it is very evident in the way these officers handled the situation. 

I’m angry and so many others are, as well; it’s so difficult to have faith in a government and law when they can’t even follow their own rules and treat everyone with the same respect and protocol. The badge they hold is their excuse to bringing harm to these individuals. It’s hard to watch the world we live in falling apart from the hurt and anger people contain because change has not happened. However, it’s understandable: the ugly truth is the color of our skin determines how we are treated, and black people face the discrimination the most out of truthfully anyone. 

When people question the riots, the looting, and even the protests, they just understand that when individuals are pushed enough, there is always going to be a breaking point. At this moment in time, this is America’s breaking point. With the younger generations of individuals bonding together to bring justice to a man that did no wrong, it’s a beautiful and terrifying thing. The non-violent protests build a community of intellectuals that want change, but no more pain, no more foul-play from the people that are to be protecting us. 

I want change in this world, I want to be able to maintain a happy society with people that can trust each other, rather than determine their fate because of the color of their skin. When I cry for a man that I did not even know, when there is a nation of individuals coming together despite the different backgrounds they come from, this is the cry for help, the cry that we want change and it needs to happen now. 

June 4, 2020
Isabella D