Elmhurst joins nation in protests in wake of George Floyd’s death

Elmhurst tackled social injustice Saturday afternoon at Wilder Park to aid in the fight against police brutality and inequality with peaceful protests.

Protesters took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds, symbolizing the May 25 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. Chauvin, who has since been fired, kneeled on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as the man begged for his life.

Black minorities took a stand on stage giving their testimonies as hundreds of white faces gave them full attention.

Worldwide protests erupted in the wake of Floyd's killing, which was captured on video, and were followed by murder charges against Chauvin along with charges against former officers Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao for aiding and abetting. Protests now demand greater police reform.

Protests in San Diego played a role in banning the carotid restraint, a method of rendering a person unconscious by restricting blood flow to the brain by compressing the neck. Minneapolis followed suit before disbanding its police entirely. Dallas adopted a “duty to intervene” rule that now requires officers to stop other officers who are engaging in inappropriate use of force.

Across the nation, protests also contributed to the removal of many Confederate statues.

DuPage County NAACP president Michael Childress does not want people to stop talking.

“If you see something, say something. At the end of the day, this is nothing new to us,” said Childress.

Childress believed that the advances taken were made possible because more people are recording instances of violence and have begun to spread the word. 

“Everybody’s got a camera now, and if it had not been for that camera, it would’ve been swept under the rug,” said Childress.

These instances are what Childress takes seriously. 

“Usually if something happens, we get accused for playing the race card, as if racism is some sort of card game that they can keep track of,” said Childress. “It is a bumper sticker slogan that white people can hide behind, but it’s serious business to us.” 

Childress said he had long seen that the media buys into this reflection in that it is designed to deflect from the real issues.

“Colin Kaepernick takes a knee, but he’s disrespecting the flag,” said Childress. “His issue was police brutality, but (the media) turned it into he’s disrespecting the flag, the military, and that he needs to be removed.”

Communities across the world stood in solidarity in what Childress called “continued unity”. 

“If you look at the diversity, people are now starting to see that without black liberation, there’s no liberation,” said Childress. “They can take their freedom as well as they take our freedom. Any point in time based on who’s the majority and who’s the minority.”

Of those included were those who orchestrated the protest. Camille Steahly, a sophomore mechanical engineering major at Miami University, decided to make it her goal to “educate predominantly white communities about the issues that have been happening nationwide.” Steahly hopes that people will listen to minorities, people speaking up, and people who are truly experiencing it. 

Protest volunteer Mat Shiley, a junior education major at Loyola University Chicago, said the sometimes uncomfortable work of educating ourselves and others by speaking out against racial injustice will help dismantle systemic racism.

“We need to embrace being uncomfortable. Continually making it a conversation with your friends, your family, co-workers, politicians, holding those in power accountable. We can’t let it die out,” he explained.

This protest was one of many that has erupted around the world in the weeks following Floyd’s killing, including all across Chicago. Ranging from all 50 states and expanding as far as London, England, and Queenstown, New Zealand, residents have stood in solidarity with the Black Lives Matters movement.