Corona Chronicle 7:What Can We Dream Next?
My 7th entry in the Corona Chronicle series, has to be about the tragedy that overshadowed the global pandemic. The tragic killing of George Floyd, an African-American man who according to news outlets died an hour or so after a police officer put a knee on his neck for several minutes. It was filmed by bystanders and went viral on the internet. In the clip the man can be heard over and over saying:
Americans as well as protestors from other countries all demanded justice for Mr. Floyd. It unfortunately turned into a racial issue as the officer was white.
Scenes of America in the media looked like a civil war had broken out in the country.
I am often left speechless when I see brutality of humans towards others – animals or other humans.
I thought, and so many writers had written about a thousand articles about how Covid-19 had shown the world we are united as humans, since the virus does not see color or borders. Enough proof that white and black lives are the same.
But when I take a look at the world, not just America - Isreal-Palestine, Kashmir, Rohingya, Refugees dying at sea, and minorities facing prejudice. And so many other such atrocities. I can see Covid-19 has changed nothing.
Why the cruelty? The over dominance? Once you have secured your safety, do not hurt the person you are having a confrontation with.
Example: A police officer goes to work, in America in particular this is tough because the country is armed.
The officer knows the man he is going to arrest could have a gun. Maybe the man is unarmed. But how can the officer know? One shot and the officer could say goodbye to his family forever.
This fear results in police brutality probably. Because the officer wants to subdue the suspect as fast as possible with minimum risk to himself.
This obviously was not the case in the death of Mr. Floyd since he was unarmed, and clearly on the ground in no position to harm the officer.
Policing is a tough life risking business, there is no other way to do it right. This is why we salute officers, military, firefighters, navy, for risking their lives to save ours.
A word to every human on earth. Please listen. Tell yourself there is one rule you’ll never break or let anyone else break under your watch…Do not hurt anyone - not your enemy, or an animal, or even an insect. Once you have secured your safety.
Don’t sink so low as a human being. Hurting the weak is not strength or bravery.
Treat even your enemies with their rights as humans, treat animals with mercy, they can feel pain.
We all know what is right and what is wrong, what is good or bad, so when you reach a point in a confrontation in which you know whatever you say or do further is going to victimize the person before you –don’t do it.
It was clear from the protests that social distancing in several circles was not being practiced. In two weeks’ time we’ll know if as a result of it America’s Covid-19 infections will soar or not.
At the moment it seems Covid-19 infections are dropping in many countries. Perhaps the face masks have reduced the spread considerably. People can be seen wearing it everywhere when they are out of their homes.
We as humans have to control our negative impulses. Because if fighting and hate like this keeps up, we won’t be able to dream of a future. The world can’t go on like this. Peace must be restored in its true order. And that starts with every human being.
As of 9-June-2020 when I finished writing this article, Covid-19 world-wide statistics according to the WorldoMeter website are below:
Copyright ©Arjuwan Lakkdawala 2020
