A Photograph - A Moving Story Behind

18 December 2020

Once I visited TIME's Top 100 Photos of 2020, I saw the picture of George FLoyd's killing protest. I felt so emotional and thought a lot when I saw the photograph.

Malike Sidibe shot the photograph on May 29, four days after the death of George Floyd. It was about the protestor wearing a shirt with the sentence " Please Stop the Violence" and were being dragged by the white police officer. I could see the deeper meaning of the photo: Violence and Racism. The story began when George Floyd - an African American man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The police knelt on Floyd's neck for a period reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Figure: A protester, wearing a shirt that reads "Please Stop the Violence," is dragged near Brooklyn's Barclays Center on May 29, four days after George Floyd's killing - by Malike Sibible.

At first, I was a bit afraid because I could see the cruel reality of discrimination. Why are people doing that? Why different color skin could cause violence or even the death of George Floyd. It recalled me a short video I have seen on Youtube. The clip was about a group of researchers who conducted a survey on children about racism. The researchers showed 2 pictures: a white baby and a black baby; and asked about 10 black children from 5 to 15 years old the question "Which baby is more beautiful?". Surprisingly, all 10 children answered, "The white one is more beautiful." The researchers asked if they liked their color skin; 8 out of 10 answered "No," "I hate my color skin." I have seen the video for such a long time, but I still remember those details clearly. Although some of the participants were just only 5 years old, they could be aware and negatively impacted by the stereotypes through the small clip. If the society and government could teach them about racism, either the white child or the black one, there would not be a painful story as George Floyd did.

Violence is also a central detail of the photo. As you can see, the white police officer and the white citizens were dragging the black protestor, contradicting the sentence on his T-shirt, "Please Stop the Violence." How painful! People are always talking about "Stop the Violence," but they used violence to handle the situation when things happen.

Just only a picture, the photographer could tell a whole story. I really appreciated the masterpiece that the photographer brought to us; therefore, I could understand the stereotypes have influenced future generations a lot. If people still do not know that, the consequences will be worse.

Sybil Khanh Nguyen

References:

TIME n.d, 'TIME's Top 100 Photos of 2020', TIME, viewed 18 December 2020, <https://time.com/5921202/top-100-photos-2020/>.