MLK Did Not ‘Die for This’
It is time we reword the conversations around the deaths of prominent Black people. They are not martyrs, they are victims of white supremacy, and it is time to acknowledge that.
The world stood still in the moments prior to the jury’s verdict in the recent Derek Chauvin case. On Apr. 20, just a few minutes after 5 p.m. EST, Derek Chauvin received a guilty verdict on all three counts he was charged with in regards to the murder of George Floyd, which occurred in May of 2020.
The murder of George Floyd sparked a series of unrelenting protests through the Summer of 2020 and brought the Black Lives Matter movement into the spotlight once again. Though the murder was caught on camera for the entire nation to see, there were still fears that the judicial system might fail George Floyd and set his killer free. Shortly after the verdict announcement, the moment of temporary relief was disrupted by disrespectful words from Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
“Thank you, George Floyd, for sacrificing your life for justice.” — Nancy Pelosi, CNN
“Thank you for sacrificing your life.”
“For justice.”
George Floyd did not sacrifice his life. He was murdered. He did not die in the pursuit of justice, because if justice were real in this country, he would not be dead in the first place. He was an ordinary man, who had no agenda, and was killed by a murderous cop with a murderous record.
Pelosi’s tone-deaf statement on the conviction of Derek Chauvin brings to rise the historic concealment of white supremacy’s hand in the halting of equality. In considering murdered Black people martyrs in the fight for equality, their deaths become byproducts of this movement, and white supremacy is absolved of all guilt in the matter. Culpability is then placed in the hands of the murdered, their deaths being chalked up to their bravery to dare challenge the norm. The rhetoric is changed and becomes centered around the “strength” and “resilience” of Black people, instead of considering the inherent violence of white supremacy.
In the post-slavery United States, there have been numerous Black people who have been abused or murdered as a direct result of white supremacy’s push back against progression and dedication to racial violence. Referring to George Floyd as someone who “sacrificed” his life for justice is factually incorrect, and horribly disrespectful.
I have never liked the term “martyr” in relation to Black people who were murdered in the heat of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, or even Black people who were murdered more recently, sparking the Black Lives Matter Movement. It is a word that simply does not apply here.
By definition, a martyr is someone who is killed for possessing a certain belief system or refusing to renounce that system of beliefs.
The forced label of martyrdom on murdered Black people is not at all a modern issue. In 2003, many years after the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955, a PBS show titled American Experience aired an episode about the murder, and the subsequent movement. This episode was called Emmett Till, A Sacrificial Lamb. A “sacrificial lamb,” as if this child agreed, and was willing to participate in this ritual, as if Emmett had any idea of what would come from his death. This trend is seen again, with the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King. Time and time again, his murder is referred to as his “martyrdom,” seemingly placing the fault of his murder on himself.
The popularization of phrases like “MLK died for this” was a detrimental mistake to the progression of society, as it ignores the root cause of Dr. King’s murder. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not lay down his life. He did not make the active decision to die one day in the name of justice. The day he was shot and killed, he did not step onto that balcony with the intention to die. Statements like “he died for this” paint that picture, and place the blame for Dr. King’s death on the man himself, when that is not the case: he was murdered.
Do we thank George Floyd for being murdered, or do we thank the judicial system for finally doing something right? Do we thank Dr. King for being murdered, or do we thank him for his valor in the fight for justice, continue to uphold his values, and apologize profusely for creating the society that took him in the first place?
In the pursuit of equality, justice, and peace, it is imperative to define what it is that you seek, and the means you will take to achieve it. What is meant by justice, in a nation that has never known it?
America knows no justice. If it did, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Oscar Grant, Ahmaud Arbery, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and so many others would still be alive, and the systems and beliefs that murdered them would not have existed in the first place. Justice does not begin with immortalizing these victims of hatred as martyrs.
Black people who fight for the right to be, are not in possession of ‘different belief systems.’ They aren’t bound by a persecuted faith. Black people who are not directly involved in any social justice movement, but still pay the ultimate price of living in a white supremacist society are also not ‘martyrs.’ They are simply people who exist in their skin, and it is their skin that brings about the controversy that White people use in the justification of their murders.
Referring to murdered Black people as ‘martyrs in the fight for justice’ absolves white supremacy of culpability here. It insinuates that Black people have a choice in the matter, that they either can renounce their skin color, or refuse and be killed for it. We cannot do that. This is the skin that we are in. It is not a ‘belief system.’ It is not a ‘faith.’ It is simply our skin.
They are victims of white supremacy. We can not ever forget what is to blame for these murders. It is white supremacy.
Black people are not at fault for their murders when participating in racial justice movements, or for just being Black. The blame is solely upon white supremacy for upholding police systems that disproportionately target minority communities, for a justice system that is inherently biased, and for permitting the continuation of societal racism through the sheer lack of punishment for holding and expressing incredibly racist viewpoints.
To refer to Dr. King as ‘someone who knew the risks’ is foul and unfair. Knew the risks of what? Of asking to be seen as a person? For asking for equality? What people fail to realize is that when they place the responsibility of death in the hands of the murdered, they unconsciously acknowledge the state of the society in which they live. They acknowledge the dangers of policing, of racist individuals, of the bias in the judicial system, of the historic lack of justice and equality in the nation across racial lines. They acknowledge all of those things, and then still choose to blame the murdered and maintain publicly that white supremacy does not exist.
What an absurd contradiction.
While we celebrate Derek Chauvin’s conviction, we must not consider this the conclusion of the battle, nor must we consider this justice. Did the world not see the murder occur on film? There was nothing to dispute in the court. Convicting a man of a murder the world watched him commit is not justice. Justice would be the demolition of the systems and structures in place that provide police the ability to commit such acts and go unpunished. Justice would be an entire reconstruction of the judicial system and existing laws that disproportionately affect minorities. Justice would be the abolition of ALL lethal force methods. It would be the end of qualified immunity. What we saw with Derek Chauvin’s case was not justice, but the bare minimum. There is much work to be done.
Without a doubt, there are more lives that will be lost, taken by the unforgiving beast of white supremacy. When the time comes to immortalize them as pillars in the fight for equality, let us not ignore why and how they left us. Let us look at the past, and speak truly, openly, and honestly about our society.
We must choose our words carefully, but we must always choose them correctly. We remember the murdered and will continue to fight for peace, equality, and justice. Their murderer, white supremacy, will not walk free.
Rest in Power.
