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.
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.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
16 hours ago, nursemarion said:
Truthfully NZ is a different society and I am not interested in what happens there. This is the world that I know. And I believe that most US police support the right to bear arms. It is the foundation of our nation. This is my world. If I wanted to live in the land of rainbows and unicorns and happiness in NZ where police have to fight with sticks and stones I would be there. Police are welcome to apply for jobs there and leave or become unarmed security guards here. They want to stop the bad guys. That is what they chose to do for a living and I bless them for it. People are too horrible to have a world without police. And those police should have whatever they need to stop criminals. It is hard work. They should be well trained and well paid.
Attitudes like this are one of the reasons why the rest of the world find you Americans quite hard work. Because you have no clue or interest in finding out about the world outside your small area.
Our cops have guns, tasers and other stuff. Fortunately we got to leave the sticks and stones behind about several hundred years ago. Perhaps if your cops carried a few more sticks and stones they would not kill quite so many people.
We were also the first country in the world to give women the vote.
Do yourself a favour and get educated about the world outside your small area.
Knowledge is power
And if I sound snarky, take a moment and consider how you would feel if someone painted your country as a bunch of backward hicks.
Specializes in Community Health, Med/Surg, ICU Stepdown.
7 hours ago, gere7404 said:
It’s a tragedy his girlfriend died, the government should not have the kind of power to surveil and raid people’s homes in the middle of the night because of something stupid like drugs.
OK then. I feel like an idiot. What do I know. Just lived through the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement and the Vietnam War. This makes me super sad. I will stand by my words when I say, BLACK LIVES MATTER. Talk over all these years has materialized into what? Meanwhile racism runs rampant and people.....human beings are dying.
It has a Pay Wall and my money is for Bingo and Candy Crush.
As for your story. That is great my brother taught me chess at a young age and he loves chess. There are many kids who don't have the benefit of getting a feature in the national press who still need help to this day. They may not play chess, but they still matter too.
Are you blind? If I was a cop and saw this move with a knife I would have shot her too. She is about to plunge the knife- a huge knife by the way-into another human being. She is doing it knowing she is in front of a cop. She is daring him by her actions. Tough chick but you live by the sword and you die by the sword. He had no choice. It has nothing to do with any bigger agenda. He was saving a life. No matter what anyone did to you, you cannot pick up a knife and stab them. If anyone is at fault here it is the rest of the people standing around who could have tried to talk her down. But she made her choice. How can you turn this into some cause for your personal dogma? It is an attempted murder. He saved a life by his quick action and is a hero.
You would have shot her simply because she's Black. I'm quite certain of that if nothing else.
What you didn't screenshot was her being chased, pushed on the ground, and picking the knife up. What you also missed was the girl in pink was one of the people she called the police on for abusing her and her teen sister. Does NOT matter what you pick and peck to post to fit your agenda, you're wrong and still trying to validate a teen being shot by a cop fresh out of the car and not having a clue what's going on. You also didn't post the infinite examples of white people doing far worse than this child but somehow managed to not get a scratch. Spare me the fake understanding. The only exaggeration here is you trying to reach to the moon to validate this child's death. My observation of your thinking a few posts back is spot on. Move around and move on.
What muno’s screenshot does show is what the cop saw when he got out of his car: a potentially lethal stabbing already in progress. Which Black teen was he supposed to favor? The person with the knife, about whom he knew NOTHING, or the one the knife was aimed at, about whom he also knew NOTHING? How long did he have before that knife entered the other Black teen’s abdomen/chest. Seconds? Enough time to talk the stabber down? Take a social history and decide that the woman wielding the knife was somehow justified? No - this was a violent, possibly lethal assault in progress and his first duty was to protect the black teen who was the obviously the intended victim. He did that.
What muno’s screenshot does show is what the cop saw when he got out of his car: a potentially lethal stabbing already in progress. Which Black teen was he supposed to favor? The person with the knife, about whom he knew NOTHING, or the one the knife was aimed at, about whom he also knew NOTHING? How long did he have before that knife entered the other Black teen’s abdomen/chest. Seconds? Enough time to talk the stabber down? Take a social history and decide that the woman wielding the knife was somehow justified? No - this was a violent, possibly lethal assault in progress and his first duty was to protect the black teen who was the obviously the intended victim. He did that.
I'm not going to keep referencing the infinite examples of white people who have done far worse TO cops and still weren't murdered. I'm just no longer going to respond to y'all repeating this same mess to validate this child's murder. ?
I'm not going to keep referencing the infinite examples of white people who have done far worse TO cops and still weren't murdered. I'm just no longer going to respond to y'all repeating this same mess to validate this child's murder. ?
So, if he had stood back and allowed the other Black teen to be murdered, that would have been OK?
I think you’ve picked the wrong hilI to die on. No question that there is a culture of police bias and violence against people of color. This incident, on the other hand, presents the question: Which Black life matters more and how is the cop supposed to know that?
So, if he had stood back and allowed the other Black teen to be murdered, that would have been OK?
I said what I said. I'm not going down the rabbit hole of what-ifs with you and I'm not engaging any further in trying to validate this child's murder. My point is clear and it won't change.
Tenebrae, BSN, RN
2,021 Posts
Attitudes like this are one of the reasons why the rest of the world find you Americans quite hard work. Because you have no clue or interest in finding out about the world outside your small area.
Our cops have guns, tasers and other stuff. Fortunately we got to leave the sticks and stones behind about several hundred years ago. Perhaps if your cops carried a few more sticks and stones they would not kill quite so many people.
We were also the first country in the world to give women the vote.
Do yourself a favour and get educated about the world outside your small area.
Knowledge is power
And if I sound snarky, take a moment and consider how you would feel if someone painted your country as a bunch of backward hicks.