I Can't Breathe

That’s what he said,
over and over again.

Please! I can’t breathe!

But Chauvin didn’t listen,
and the three
law enforcement officers
that were present
did nothing to intervene
as he pled:

I can’t breathe! Please,
I can’t breathe!

And the bystanders filmed it,
but they didn’t do anything
to stop his death. Not really.
They didn’t try to challenge
the thugs in badges,
and they didn’t
call the cops
on the cops.

I can’t breathe!

Through clenched teeth, we breathe,
That’s not me. I’m not a racist.
I’m a good person.

I can’t breathe!

To those of you who, like me,
have less melanin in your skin,
how many times have you
clutched your purse tighter
or walked faster, gone on
high alert
when a darker man on the street
approaches?

I can’t breathe!

The crux is not
white supremacy,
it is not
individual racists,
it is not
black on black violence,
it is not
police brutality.

I can’t breathe!

Yes, these are issues
that we must resolve,
but they are not the root.
We live in a world
where you are marked
upon birth
by the color of your skin,
and if you’re the wrong color,
then tough shit; your life
will be fraught with fear
that when a cop pulls you over,
your life will end.

I can’t breathe!

Systemic racism
is alive and well in America.

I can’t breathe!

Don’t believe me?
If you’re white, and you’re pulled over
for speeding or for expired registration,
do you fear for your life?
If you’re white, and you rear-end
a person of color, hospitalizing them,
totaling their car because of your negligence,
who will be held responsible?
If you kill a black man and say you felt threatened,
you’re off the hook, aren’t you?
But if you’re black, and you kill
a white serial murderer in self defense…
well, you’re lucky to get a prison sentence
and nothing worse.
Is the innocent black man accused of rape
or the white rapist claiming innocence
more likely to be punished?

I can’t breathe!

Systemic racism
is alive and well in America.
Or else George Floyd
wouldn’t have begged

I can’t breathe!
Please, I can’t