George Floyd died on May 25 in Minneapolis after allegedly attempting to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a store.
Floyd was apprehended and restrained by four officers who had their knees pressing him to the street, including Derek Chauvin who had his knee against Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
A movement for equality has swept over the nation ever since, and administrators at the Wheeling YWCA have developed a new program that hopefully will supply needed funds for scholarships, raised awareness, and a continued conversation about the reasons why these tragedies have continued to occur across the United States.
“There is a momentum right now that concerns awareness about these racial and culturally insensitive acts because people are concerned,” explained Ron Scott Jr., the director of the cultural diversity program at the Wheeling YWCA. “And there are a lot of people right now asking what they can do. They want to prevent these incidents. They want to reverse this in our country.
“At the Wheeling YWCA, we discuss how we could capture this feeling that so many have right now,” he said. “Our thoughts are that the catalyst for the issue George Floyd encountered could become the catalyst for the change. That’s when we came up with the idea for #ChangeForA20, a program that would collect donations for scholarships for our young people.”
They Get It Now
The last three weeks have been Scott’s busiest since joining the YWCA team a few years ago, and the expressed concern has surprised him because his conversations have included community members of all races.
“It seems that these incidents are touching everyone right now, and I once thought that would never happen. I believed it would only affect people if they had someone of color in their families. If they had skin the game, so to speak,” Scott said. “But now, it’s different. It is so different. The amount of organizations that have been reaching out to me over the last three weeks has been incredible.
“It’s really blown my mind, and now I’m hoping this momentum keeps up for a long time,” he said. “And I pray it’s lasting change that we get from this.”
The video of the death of George Floyd, Scott believes, likely has made a monumental difference.
“We all watched that video, and since, people have told me over and over that they get it now, so it is important to make the most of that momentum, and this program can fund those scholarship; it can also help fund other programs and more training by other agencies in our community,” Scott explained. “As a part of it, folks can donate $20 that will go toward a scholarship program that was initiated by the Ohio Valley African American Students Association a few years ago, and now that organization is under the Wheeling YWCA,”
“In the future, local people and organizations could challenge each other to make that $20 donation, too, so the effect to affect this change has the chance to spread across the entire community,” he said. “I think people enjoy being a part of something that this big and can produce so much positive change.”
The Justice System
Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder in Minneapolis, and the three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Each has hired a defense team, and an entire country awaits those days in court.
Millions of protestors want justice for George Floyd.
“What worries me when it comes time for the trials for the police officers in Minneapolis, though, is that they will want and demand the maximum sentences for each of them. They’ll want the book thrown at them and for them to buried under the jail,” Scott explained. “But, as we have seen in a lot of trials, the charges may have to be less to make sure that punishment sticks. For some, though, that won’t be satisfactory.
“I don’t believe the possibility for the officer who had his neck on Mr. Floyd’s neck to go free is there anymore, but sending him to prison may not be enough for some,” he continued. “There will be some things, I think, that will come out during the trial that may change some minds, but I haven’t heard anything about that so far. Right now, it feels as if this movement has a full head of steam.”
That is why now is the time to launch the #ChangeForA20 program to raise the funds necessary to elicit change for the immediate and long-term future for racial equality in the United States.
“What I never expected was for these emotions to be around for so long. It feels as if we’re playing with house money right now,” Scott said with a smile. “Even if it fades a little, we all know that this affected everyone in some way, and that will allow us to tap back into those feelings in the future. There definitely was something for a lot of people after they watched that video from Minneapolis.
“Anyone who watched that video heard George Floyd call out to his mother and heard him say he could not breathe. We all heard that,” he said. “Everyone of every race knows that wasn’t right. We all watched a man get killed for trying to pass a $20 bill.”
