MNA and Nurses Respond to the Killing of George Floyd by Police

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

We have all seen on the news the terrible scene that played out in the streets in Minnesota when George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black male, was arrested by the Minnesota Police for attempted forgery at a convenience store. The action was caught on video as George Floyd, handcuffed and pinned to the ground face down by an officer who pressed with his full weight with his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for more than 8 minutes. We watched and heard George Floyd crying out that he couldn't breathe. We heard him calling for "Mama". We watched as his body went limp with the officer still holding him down. This will be a scene I shall never forget.

The following are quotes from the Minnesota Nurses Association's response to this heinous crime.

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As nurses, we see the horrific effects of racism in our hospitals and community every day. We cannot remain silent as yet another black man has died at the hands of police...

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George Floyd's last words were "I can't breathe.” George Floyd died shortly after arriving at the hospital."

Nurses jump into action when they hear someone say "I can't breathe", instead of standing there watching them die. Their goal is to save lives, not kill people

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In the case of George Floyd, Minneapolis Police took no care or life-saving measures. Instead, they left him pinned down to the ground until paramedics arrived. Police ignored the pleas of George Floyd and he died.

Nurses care for all patients, regardless of their gender, race, religion or other status. We expect the same from the police. Unfortunately, nurses continue to see the devastating effects of systematic racism and oppression targeting people of color in our communities. We demand justice for George Floyd and a stop to the unnecessary death of black men at the hands of those who should protect them.

As a nurse, or as a compassionate human, how has this horrific event affected you? We have seen protests (some peaceful and some that have erupted into riots), vandalism, looting, and more. What is going on in your community? What actions can nurses take?

Let us stand together and let our voices be heard. Post your comments below.

[toomuchbaloney]

18 minutes ago, Workitinurfava said:

You obviously don't see the correlation like you should be able to  so I can't help you. 

You should try to flesh out the correlation that you believe you are highlighting.  Maybe you can do it without denying the existence of systemic racism or intentionally demeaning blacks.

Maybe you can't even help yourself.   

[toomuchbaloney]

24 minutes ago, Workitinurfava said:

So handle criminals and many repeat criminals with fuzzy, soft, handcuffs, while they turn their neighborhoods into war zones. 

That's the contrived choice that you see...soft fuzzy or intentional violence and cruelty.  That's not evidence of critical thinking. 

[toomuchbaloney]

16 minutes ago, Workitinurfava said:

I wonder why, nope I know why.

Really? You wonder why but dismiss the likelihood of poor training, unprofessional education and behavior, and systemic racism? It seems that your wondering always leads you back to blaming the victims of police violence for the violent and overly emotional reactions of angry or frustrated police.

[guest1163268]

25 minutes ago, Workitinurfava said:

So handle criminals and many repeat criminals with fuzzy, soft, handcuffs, while they turn their neighborhoods into war zones.

 

 

People always see what they want to see! 

You surely noticed that you essentially stated that almost everyone was a criminal in those neighborhoods. I would counter that all of those neighborhoods combined haven't stolen as much money as certain individuals on Wall Street who never ever even got convicted. 

Who's the bigger criminals? 

[klone, MSN, RN]

4 hours ago, Workitinurfava said:

I wonder why, nope I know why.

Yes, because they're ***ing racist. Any other implication I'm getting from what you said is frankly disgusting.

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

8 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:

I am not sure how some of you would expect LEO's to act with the constant blaming of officers as being racist or just plain wrong in police events BEFORE any facts/evidence have come out, and many have been proven wrong after the fact but still the media, politicians etc call them racist acts. ....

The other day I had a patient barge into the nurses station. I'm not talking standing in the door, I'm talking all the way in. It triggered a massive trauma reaction in me and my first reaction was to smack them one. Instead I relied on my training, pushed my duress alarm and had the patient removed; 

Its about expecting the police to be held responsible for their actions in the course of their duty. If a pysch nurse cant (and shouldnt) get away with physically assaulting a threatening patient with a history of violence, neither should cops get away with injuring and killing people. 

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Demonizing, dehumanizing, and defunding the police will only serve to hurt us all

 

Making excuses for thugs hiding behind a police uniform like these guys who dislocated an elderly ladys arm (who had dementia) and then laughed about it and pretending that there are not issues of systemic racism in law enforcement will do far more damage than holding police accountable for their actions. 

 

[NurseBlaq]

Some of these comments have me legit worried for Black/Brown/Native/Muslim/etc patients because no matter what some of you already have them labeled with stereotypes because they don't look like you. Disgusting. Let me leave this thread before I get put in AN time out.

[toomuchbaloney]

52 minutes ago, NurseBlaq said:

Some of these comments have me legit worried for Black/Brown/Native/Muslim/etc patients because no matter what some of you already have them labeled with stereotypes because they don't look like you. Disgusting. Let me leave this thread before I get put in AN time out.

I hope you stick around.  I am hopeful that the moderators will begin to recognize some of the comments for what they are...racially inflammatory violations of TOS. 

"Our call is to be supportive, not divisive. Because of this, discrimination, racial vilification and offensive generalizations targeting people of other races, religions and/or nationalities, or sexual orientation will not be tolerated."

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

8 hours ago, Curious1997 said:

ou surely noticed that you essentially stated that almost everyone was a criminal in those neighborhoods. I would counter that all of those neighborhoods combined haven't stolen as much money as certain individuals on Wall Street who never ever even got convicted. 

Who's the bigger criminals? 

Exactly. Wealthy white men can steal/lose billions of dollars of other people's money and rarely (not never, rarely!) face consequences. Black men can try to steal $20 worth of cigarettes and end up dead. There are young black men who were simply in the car when a friend committed a crime and go to jail for 20 plus years as "accessories" to crime. As for the "article" posted (questionable source), there are many incorrect statistics, and as for stating that black people are arrested more because they commit more crimes... why do they commit more crimes? Maybe because racism robs them of education, opportunities, housing, employment. Not because black people are just more prone to committing crimes.

They are at a 400 plus years deficit. While white people were gaining generational wealth due to slavery, sharecropping, Jim Crow, etc, black people gained no wealth as they worked for free or close to free. There is no magic way to "catch up," and ancestors of slaves still haven't received the reparations they were promised. Look up income disparity statistics, unemployment statistics, education statistics. Schools with predominantly students of color don't perform poorly because students of color aren't as smart as white students. It all stems from lack of funding, resources, opportunities, and wealth. And it keeps going. Look up school to prison pipeline. Even though this thread makes me want to quit AN, now I'm sucked in. I just can't not respond to some of the things I'm hearing. I do understand the history we are taught in school doesn't teach us the real history of our country. 

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

One more thing: What do you think would have happened if hundreds of armed BLACK men had stormed our capitol and attacked capitol police, threatened to murder federal employees, and actually did murder an officer? I don't see how anyone can think they wouldn't all have been shot. But almost every white person who went to that "rally" and actually committed an act of terrorism against our own country survived. I think they're only going to jail because they were dumb enough to livestream themselves on social media. 

[guest1163268]

10 minutes ago, LibraNurse27 said:

One more thing: What do you think would have happened if hundreds of armed BLACK men had stormed our capitol and attacked capitol police, threatened to murder federal employees, and actually did murder an officer? I don't see how anyone can think they wouldn't all have been shot. But almost every white person who went to that "rally" and actually committed an act of terrorism against our own country survived. I think they're only going to jail because they were dumb enough to livestream themselves on social media. 

I have lots of high school 'friends' who get away with stuff from the police that I know for sure, my black friends who are successful professionals, would end up handcuffed for. If we go out at night, it's going to be one of the white guys driving and I don't blame my black friends. The double standards have to stop! 

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

21 minutes ago, LibraNurse27 said:

One more thing: What do you think would have happened if hundreds of armed BLACK men had stormed our capitol and attacked capitol police, threatened to murder federal employees, and actually did murder an officer? I don't see how anyone can think they wouldn't all have been shot. But almost every white person who went to that "rally" and actually committed an act of terrorism against our own country survived. I think they're only going to jail because they were dumb enough to livestream themselves on social media. 

actually, the only person killed that day was a white woman shot by a black police officer