Creating an Icon !

George  Floyd was accused of tendering a counterfeit twenty dollar bill to buy a packet of cigarettes.  His death when placed under arrest by police was captured by cameras and stirred passions around the world.  Millions of people now know his name and his face is fast becoming as recogniseable  as the rulers of world countries.

Fate has singled out George Floyd to become a symbol that may change the world.  That picture of him laying in the gutter with a white policeman kneeling on his neck for over eight long minutes has come to recognise the injustice common to coloured people in most of the world.  His anguished cry of " I can't breathe "  was studiously ignored and when the knee pressure to his neck was finallty removed he had last conscience and when he reached hospital he was pronounced dead.

That film footage travelled around the world and brought millions into the streets as far apart as Sydney, London, Paris and widely across the United States.   What was remarkable was that people thought it mattered more than their personal safety from the Coronavirus which is still cutting a swathe by person to person infections.  In America, angry mobs resorted to burning public buildings and looting stores and many days later the unrest is showing no signs of disappating.

This is an issue that may prevent Donald Trump from securing a second term as president.  Trump declared himself the " law and order president " and called out the military to guard the white house. Coupled with his hesitation in ordering the necessary isolation when the Coronvirus roared out of China, the rersulting deaths in the USA may make supporters have a change of heart.  This pandemic has added to the unemployment queues and badly damaged the American economy.  The voters are looking for someone to blame for the damage.

It is highly likely that George Floyd's death has created a new icon to head the " Black lives matter " movement.  Years earlier a sniper's bullet that killed legendary black preacher Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968 cemented his family as a spokesperson for black America.  Lacking an official " royalty " it seems that Americans anoint one of their own to that elevated position and this certainly helped John Kennedy win the country's highest office.  It remains to be seen if one of the Floyd family has the gravitas to step up and take the leadership that this unfortunate death is offering.

It seems quite clear that policing in America has become a military force more conducive to an army of occupation than a means of safeguarding the public.  The public are becoming afraid of their police and it will take a change of culture to alter that, and Trump is fast heading in the other direction.

The world reaction to George Floyd's death is a clear warning sign.  The fact that vast crowds took to the streets at risk of their own lives from this virus infection illustrates the depth of feeling.  The only question is whetheer the change that is coming is brought about by legislation or if inaction leads to a form of government that changes the nation forever.

The mood of the people has signalled the need for change !