George Floyd’s death wasn’t the only reason for protests in America…

... but the fact that his name became one in a massive list of victims.

For the past few weeks everywhere around the world, the name of George Floyd came into the mouths of many. The news of his death was a shock to the white people, but a custom to the black people around the globe, after all: injustice in cops brutally killing people of colour before arrest while at the same time they arrest white criminals with the most care of the world? That’s the new norm for many POC communities.

And the response from the American people to this injustice is more than justified. People are always in their right to protest, to stand up and shout what’s wrong with the system, to want change and physically show their need for such asked change.

But now it has been a week since the protest started, and since day one every day I watch the news and the protest are mentioned, there’s a thing that all white reporters get wrong. As they make the statement that “ The protests are because of the death of George Floyd. “

No, they aren’t.

The protests aren’t because of the death of George Floyd, yes his death was a catalyst to Americans showing their internal outrage at the system. But that outrage, that flame, always lightened up.

I am white, therefore my outrage even if big, will never compare to that of the black communities: suffering, fearing, panicking, screaming. I will feel disgusted, as I am now, but after the protests calm down and George Floyd stops becoming news, this outrage, even when I want it to stay lighten up with the same strength, it won’t happen, as I am white. But for the black community, that fire is always, always lighten up, as they always suffer.

So saying that this outrage is about George Floyd, that it started because of George Floyd, that is not worth anything because George Floyd is already dead: is erasing the existence of Walter Scott, Michael Brown, Sean Bell, Freddie Gray, Kinami Gray and many many other’s who died in America because of the system.

The system which was built, to oppress people of colour and keep them quiet. Which has always failed, because thought the century, and if you want to go narrower, throughout the decade, that fire was always burning and always showing. In all the years, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, their fire was shown and some change did come. But nothing really needed. As if things had changed, then George Floyd wouldn’t have been a new name to shout.

So to say that this outrage is about George Floyd is to deny that the fire inside the African-American and all the POC communities didn’t exist and that all this time, they didn’t suffer when in reality the system forces them to suffer and fear every day of their lives.

These protests started because the fire of inequality in the system still exists, not only in America but here in the UK too, inequality to a fair arrest, to a fair trial and to a fair sentence for those who take innocent lives away. To say that these protests are not important because either you are white or you aren’t America is to push further ignorance into the abuse of power by the government, and lately by the entire police in the United States.

If you are white, you must speak out, no matter where you live. Not only because of George Floyd but also because of the suffering many had to endure for centuries. You have the privilege to be alive, to have this privilege to breathe. So use that breath and shout for the lives of those who lost it, help those who are about to lose it, and use your voice, as it can be heard.

Black Lives Matter not only for a day, a week, a month or a year. But forever.