Growing the Voices of Our Future
The Westside Gazette Newspaper it honored to feature these editorial contribution made by local students.
By Layla Davidson
On June 5, an extremely eerie resemblance from the George Floyd incident happened in Virginia.
A police officer used a stun gun on a disoriented Black male without provocation. The officer stun gunned the Black man until he was on the floor, and the officers knees were on his back and neck. The Black man said, “I can’t breathe”; however, the officer continued to keep his knee on the man.
The officer faces three charges of assault and battery in connection with the incident, said Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve T. Descano. The officer faces up to 36 months in prison, Descano said.
In a news conference Chief of Police Col. Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said the footage showed the officer violating the department’s use-of-force policies and committing “criminal acts” that “violate our oath of office” and “ignore the sanctity of human life.”
All of these incidents with Black men and women have to stop. People who are not in our shoes do not know the state that we are in. They do not understand why we have to protest. These incidents with Black people have been happening for over 400 years now.
The situation with George Floyd was the last straw for us as Black people. We have had enough of being oppressed. No other race will know what we are going through until they are in our shoes.
You cannot complain about the president if you don’t vote. That is why voting is essential. Moreover, talking about being oppressed and talking about doing things is not going to change the situation. We have to take action.
Once we do something about systemic racism and discrimination and show these cops and higher authority that we have had enough, things will change. We cannot rely on cops and higher authority and that’s what it seems like now.
We all have voices. God gave it to us for a reason.
“Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant” – Elie Wiesel.
