Say his name: George Floyd

ジョージ・フロイドさんが亡くなってから1年が経ち、アメリカでは追悼の催しが行われていると報道されています。昨年(2020年)6月7日のブログ記事を再掲載します。

On May 25, 2020, Mr. George Floyd was murdered in a big city in America. I would not go into details here, but the most important point is that he would not have had to die, if he had not made this single mistake: he was born black. As anyone can see, no one is responsible for the color of their skin, so it’s wrong to call it a mistake. However, Mr. Floyd was held accountable. Am I qualified to talk about Mr. Floyd? I don’t know. I’m just an English teacher living in Japan, who heard about how Mr. Floyd’s death sparked protests across the land of the free. And yet, looking the other way and pretending not to notice seemed to me to be wrong. The same incident may not have happened here, but if I look closer, I may find injustice in different forms or maybe hiding in plain sight. I believe we must actively seek out and confront societal wrongs, and plant seeds of hope and justice to create a society where equity is a given. That is why I write about Mr. George Floyd and take a knee in my heart in honor of his life.