The message that will end white racism – Dr Keste Miller

From the Jim Crow era to present day America, racism has been a demon in American culture which it seems ill-equip to exorcise despite amendments to several US laws.

The recent controversial killing of George Floyd, a black man, by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who was this week found guilty of murdering the former, has served to stoke the proverbial fire triggering seismic reactions along racial fault lines in a nation that’s 60 percent white, 18 percent Hispanic and 12 percent black.

In an opinion posted on Facebook, the veteran lawyer and Old Harbour Bay native wrote “white racism in the USA, and everywhere that white people occupy will never be eradicated until all non-whites carry the message that we are here to stay and enjoy life as free people, all sharing economic wealth, always remembering that it will never be easy for white people to accept that there is an equality among people of all races, which they will eventually have to embrace and live with, though painful it will be”.

Dr Miller’s comments encapsulated utterances espoused by many black civil rights activists past and present, and will surely resonate with people of colour the world over.

He further stated that this message is a ceaseless work ad infinitum.

With the now popular slogan ‘Black Lives Matter’ written in bold caps, Dr Miller argued: “Our march for cultural and economic equality of all people no matter where they come from must never ceased until this mission is accomplished.”

Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes in carrying out an arrest on a street in Minneapolis, Minnesota last May, was on Wednesday found guilty by a 12-member jury on three counts: of murder in the second-degree, third-degree and manslaughter.

The charge and subsequent conviction of Chauvin is a very uncommon outcome for police officers in the US. Hence it was understandable when euphoric celebrations erupted across the US, and across the worldwide amongst black people, as Chauvin’s verdict was read out live on television and transmitted by major international networks.

Ben Crump, the lawyer for the Floyd family called the verdict a “turning point” in history for the United States, but to reiterate Dr Miller’s point, the struggles of black people for equality under the law is still work in progress.