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.

Quote

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...

Quote

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

Quote

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.

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

On 6/5/2020 at 2:53 AM, Numenor said:

3. This is a police brutality issue, not a race issue. Stop trying to red herring fallacy the actual problem. Your post is literally trying to bury the real glaring conflict which is police brutality with a litany of other issues that come from different source. Police brutality is an ALL race issue.

Its very much a race issue.

People of colour are much more likey to get much harder prison sentences than their white counterparts

https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2413&context=articles

page 1 and 2 are a good start

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/08/us/us-police-floyd-protests-country-comparisons-intl/index.html

The stats show that police are four times more likely to use force on people of colour than they are on people who are white

Black men are 3 times more likely to die from police misuse of force when in custody

https://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/20/health/black-men-killed-by-police/index.html

The statistics do not support your assertion that white people are more likely than black people to die in police custody

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

On 6/10/2020 at 11:37 AM, toomuchbaloney said:

I didn't tell you how to feel anything, but my words clearly triggered your feelings.

You forgot to outline exactly I really stepped in it. Was it when I asked about feeling compassion and empathy for mothers of black children who just want them to come home from their ADLs?

Are you seriously going to get salt salty with me speaking out against racism because your children have been treated badly because of racism?

You said that perhaps now I understand...so on. You had no clue what my race or any race of my family members was. Then you act as if I have no right to be offended, even though I find your tone to be paternalistic. And now you say because my sons have been treated badly, because I stated that I've had snide comments. My youngest son freely admits that his treatment by police officers, as well as others, was brought on by his behavior towards society. My oldest says he's never really noticed any different treatment from others, and being brought up in a white rural community, this is not the norm for most non-whites.

My sons say you stepped in it when you made assumptions. You may say that you didn't, but others may see it differently, it depends on personal perspective. You also had issue with my being offended, saying it wasn't intended. Whether intended or not, no one can decide how another person is allowed to take it. We can kindly agree to disagree, but until you've walked a mile in my shoes, or anyone else's for that matter, please don't talk about how they fit. Be blessed

[morte, LPN, LVN]

5 hours ago, Tenebrae said:

Could you mention some of those please?

And site some sources that suggest the majority of deaths in custody actually happen to white people

Indeed, more whites did than POC, HOWEVER, it is a SMALLER% of the white population, than the POC that are killed. Reflectors LOVE to try to pull that c...

[TomPaine]

On 6/12/2020 at 2:54 AM, Tenebrae said:

Could you mention some of those please?

And site some sources that suggest the majority of deaths in custody actually happen to white people

The Washington Post compiled data on all the police killings in 2019. There were 1,003 people killed by police. The results are here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/

250 black people killed by police (14 were unarmed)

405 white people killed by police (25 were unarmed)

[toomuchbaloney]

On 6/12/2020 at 7:56 AM, Hoosier_RN said:

You said that perhaps now I understand...so on. You had no clue what my race or any race of my family members was. Then you act as if I have no right to be offended, even though I find your tone to be paternalistic. And now you say because my sons have been treated badly, because I stated that I've had snide comments. My youngest son freely admits that his treatment by police officers, as well as others, was brought on by his behavior towards society. My oldest says he's never really noticed any different treatment from others, and being brought up in a white rural community, this is not the norm for most non-whites.

My sons say you stepped in it when you made assumptions. You may say that you didn't, but others may see it differently, it depends on personal perspective. You also had issue with my being offended, saying it wasn't intended. Whether intended or not, no one can decide how another person is allowed to take it. We can kindly agree to disagree, but until you've walked a mile in my shoes, or anyone else's for that matter, please don't talk about how they fit. Be blessed

You could take your personal concern to private message rather than continue in the thread.

[toomuchbaloney]

On 6/12/2020 at 10:45 AM, TomPaine said:

The Washington Post compiled data on all the police killings in 2019. There were 1,003 people killed by police. The results are here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/

250 black people killed by police (14 were unarmed)

405 white people killed by police (25 were unarmed)

Still...ignoring proportionality makes it appear that you have an agenda to disprove what the data shows. The data shows that blacks are disproportionately harmed or killed while in police custody.

[TomPaine]

On 6/12/2020 at 11:13 AM, toomuchbaloney said:

Still...ignoring proportionality makes it appear that you have an agenda to disprove what the data shows. The data shows that blacks are disproportionately harmed or killed while in police custody.

Wrong again baloney. When accounting for proportionality blacks commit more crime (and therefore encounter police more frequently) than non-blacks. From the FBI:

African Americans are 13% of the U.S. population and commit:

- 53% of the murders

- 29% of the rapes

- 54% of the robbery

- 33% of the aggravated assault

- 42% of the weapons charges

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/topic-pages/tables/table-21

There is no opinion here or agenda. Just the facts.

[toomuchbaloney]

On 6/12/2020 at 5:27 PM, TomPaine said:

Wrong again baloney. When accounting for proportionality blacks commit more crime (and therefore encounter police more frequently) than non-blacks. From the FBI:

African Americans are 13% of the U.S. population and commit:

- 53% of the murders

- 29% of the rapes

- 54% of the robbery

- 33% of the aggravated assault

- 42% of the weapons charges

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/topic-pages/tables/table-21

There is no opinion here or agenda. Just the facts.

The agenda is evident in the comments...

[Guest1144461]

22 hours ago, Tenebrae said:

Could you mention some of those please?

And site some sources that suggest the majority of deaths in custody actually happen to white people

Thomas Kelly

Tony Timpa

Daniel Shaver

How many do you want? There are dozens easily googleable that no one has heard of because they are white. Its sad that people on this site are so into dogmatic drivel that they actually do 0 research. I literally posted the data in THIS thread.

7 hours ago, toomuchbaloney said:

The agenda is evident in the comments...

Its actually more like 2-3% if you factor in most of the crime is young black males 18-40. Data is fun.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

On 6/12/2020 at 5:27 PM, TomPaine said:

Wrong again baloney. When accounting for proportionality blacks commit more crime (and therefore encounter police more frequently) than non-blacks. From the FBI:

African Americans are 13% of the U.S. population and commit:

- 53% of the murders

- 29% of the rapes

- 54% of the robbery

- 33% of the aggravated assault

- 42% of the weapons charges

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/topic-pages/tables/table-21

There is no opinion here or agenda. Just the facts.

Sigh, stats can, and are, made to lie. Blacks are charged, where whites would not be, and are up charged from what whites are. Starts in school. And remember, FBI only gets what the locals want them to have.

[Guest1144461]

1 hour ago, morte said:

Sigh, stats can, and are, made to lie. Blacks are charged, where whites would not be, and are up charged from what whites are. Starts in school. And remember, FBI only gets what the locals want them to have.

Literally the mental gymnastics on this. Giant conspiracy I am sure.?

[eakirlin]

I would like to make two observations, and then thank the respondents for some real gut issues, and the courage to take it where it leads.

1) I almost stopped leaving notes in my personal life, because there is no way to control the "tone" in a note. Even if you are choosing your words carefully. The tone is self issued, based on the narrative and individual history. All I need to hear is "the boss wants to talk to you", and I cringe, no matter how many good boss sessions I have had.

2) Quoting Mark Twain, in the categories of untruthful argument; there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. It is popularized because of how statistics have sometimes been deployed to support a weak argument.

I think there is a role to play in societal and employment opportunities, that govern choices in a way that eludes a tidy assessment of race, even IQ, gender, sexuality. When you have whole stretches of society where the family structure is shaky, where employment and education is restricted and ends early due to financial pressures, it may appear as one of the FBI statistics, with no other narrative support offered. It is too limited, in other words.

I am thinking of Australia's birth , a penal colony for the upper classes of Great Britain. And you should see what the brits had to say about the lower classes! The works of Charles Dickens treats the "criminals" in a more sympathetic light than many of that era... and... I rather like Australians, don't you??? You could get shipped over for stealing a lady's handkerchief. You could definitely do worse in life than being accused of being Australian.

Have a nice day?