OUR SMARTPHONES ARE LOOKING BACK AT US.

We have seen the video of the policemen killing George Floyd. Mr. Floyd was killed in Minnesota in broad daylight by police officers as he was stretched out on his stomach with his hands in handcuffs behind his back. A police officer unnecessarily forced his knee into the back of Mr. Floyd's neck. He died moments later.

In another video, a woman in Central Park, New York calling 911. She falsely claimed that a black man in the park was threatening her life. This woman, Amy Cooper, made this call after she demanded that the man stop recording her. The man asked her to follow the park's rules and put her dog on a leach. He did not stop recording, so she called 911 with her false claim that her life was threatened.

These videos have a lot in common. Both of them show a power-play, a white person showing that they have power over a black person. These displays of white power did not have to happen. Amy Cooper, (the woman in the park) could have put her dog back on the leash she was holding in her hand. But instead, she made the 911 call, complete with faux urgency. Her voiced raised to a scream as she told the 911 operator, "An African American man is threatening my life… Send the cops immediately! " 

 The police officer didn't need to force his knee into the back to George Floyd's neck. There were two other officers on top of Mr. Floyd. His hands were behind his back… in handcuffs. But instead, the officer forced his knee onto Floyd's neck as he begged for mercy. Mercy that was not granted. It was a modern-day lynching.

Smartphone videos allow us to see what happened—the reaction to us seeing it has led to this woman and the police officers losing their jobs.

Last summer, my family and I went to The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, also known as the National Lynching Memorial and The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. It has many exhibits and visuals about racial injustice in America. Last year I wrote about it in my blog here. They were founded by Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer, and social justice activist. One of the themes I've heard Bryan Stevenson mentions is that "Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." 

This concept is essential because it acknowledges the adverse action, "the worst thing we've ever done." Second, it does not define one as only that action. Redemption is possible. Reconciliation can be reached. However, to get their work must be done. 

George Floyd deserves justice. The police officers responsible for killing him should be tried for his death. Amy Cooper is dealing with the consequences of her 911 call. We, as a society, must make sure they are held responsible for what they did. We saw it. 

They are examples of what evil people do. But I would caution us from being too smug as we talk about those cops and that woman. It's convenient, far too convenient to single out the bad apples and demand justice be done to them, leaving the same system in place. Our problem is more significant than just a few bad people. It's systemic. It's baked into the core of who we are. America has always been racist. We see it now because it's on our phones.

America was founded on this racism. I ask, can we make America better than the worst thing America has ever done?

Our phones will be watching. 

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