George Floyd’s death shows Americans must return to founding values and civic discourse

“I can’t breathe.” The words startle my senses. I hold my breath waiting and hoping the horrible thing I see before my eyes will end. My lungs burn, the desperation in my mind forces me to breathe, but for George Floyd, there is no relief. Some eight-plus minutes later George Floyd dies, handcuffed with the knee of an unsympathetic policeman cutting off the vital flow of oxygen carrying blood to his brain.

I can watch no more as memories of my own abuse years ago by Fresno police flood my conscience, bringing me to near panic. Images of being tasered and pepper-sprayed by the police. The nightmares of the event are alive again. When I was asked, why would Fresno’s finest do this, I’m in shock, unable to think of a reason. “Was it racist?” “How could this happen?” I cried out in the midst of the onslaught, “I am a minster! I know the police chief and a police lieutenant” yet my cries went unheard. Was this my fault? Was there anything I could have done differently? I’m lost in confusion, then the words of my therapist come to mind — Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am alive, but that one event has forever changed my core beliefs.

For many African American males, witnessing George Floyd triggers anger, frustration, and that terrible feeling of helplessness. Unfortunately, the interactions between police officers and African American males are filled with such horrors that most law-abiding white citizens find impossible to believe. Most would say there had to be some prior provocation to cause such a response. But lives are ended and others are forever changed.

It is unfortunate that a man’s life has ended in a totally unjustified manner. The policeman who in such a cavalier manner took George Floyd’s life wasn’t detained nor arrested until there was a public outcry. So often in American history it has taken a public outcry after witnessing such horrific events to shift the conversation from provocation to a cry for justice. I think of the open casket funeral of Emmett Till, 1955; the 1965 Selma march; and Rodney King, 1991. Those events pierced the national conscience and caused us as a nation to exam the dissonance in what we saw and the American values we hold dear. Each such incident caused us to question the belief that color does not matter.

In the last few months Ahmaud Arbery is killed while jogging, police shot and killed Breonna Taylor while she was sleeping in her bed, and Sandra Bland is suspiciously found dead in her jail cell after being tasered by an angry state trooper. Now George Floyd’s very visible and tragic death has stirred the conscience of the nation.

It is time we talked. It is time for a real genuine conversation that not only addresses the horror of Mr. Floyd’s death, but also addresses the elephant in the room. Race matters. We all know it matters, but some are afraid and find it difficult to admit that color impacts every aspect of our society. When we have honest dialogue in a civil manner we take the first steps to prevent rioting, the first steps of ending needless violence, the first steps of healing, and becoming one nation.

As CEO of the Civic Education Center, we teach students and teachers in our public schools how to discuss tough issues centering on the values of our country’s founding documents and to build consensus using democratic skills. This past year we worked with 1,600 students in four districts. It is amazing each time I witness students engage in civil dialogue around issues that most school districts would encourage teachers to avoid, such as race, teen suicide, domestic violence, and human trafficking.

It never ceases to amaze me how very diverse student population groups in classrooms around Fresno County really listen to one another as they share their research and their concerns from multiple perspectives and then work together to find a workable solution. It is never too soon to start such conversations. Youth voice based on the real practice of democratic skills will change tomorrow. The youth in our schools can make the change that we as adults often shy away from. Our schools must provide them with these much needed opportunities and skills.

Watching a white cop kneel on the neck a handcuffed black male until he dies should demonstrate to us all that we as a nation need to return to our founding values and engage in civic dialogue as respectful responsible citizens. These values written by imperfect and flawed men give context by which we examine the failures and the successes of American society. The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self evident . . .” not the men, but the obvious truths that God created all equal and all are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These values are the foundations to American democracy, which must become a vital of part of the civic education we instill in our youth.

We understand that as a diverse society, our concerns will come from multiple perspectives. So as informed and engaged neighbors, let us find a workable solution together that will allow our nation to finally exhale.

“Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift . . . our Founders gave us . . . our progress has been uneven . . . Social attitudes oftentimes take generations to change . . . The work of democracy has always been hard . . . always contentious. Sometimes . . . bloody . . . But the long sweep of America has been defined by a . . . constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all and not just some.” Former President, Barack Obama, 2017