Daily US Times: Former first lady Michelle Obama said this week that non-black folks also need to help root out racism while speaking out over the death of George Floyd.
In a Facebook post on Friday, she expressed grief over the recent killing of Floyd, as well as other black men and women in recent weeks.
She wrote: “Like so many of you, I’m pained by these recent tragedies. And I’m exhausted by a heartbreak that never seems to stop.”
Michelle Obama mentioned Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and Michael Brown.
She wrote in her post: “It just goes on, and on, and on. Race and racism is a reality that so many of us grow up learning to just deal with. But if we ever hope to move past it, it can’t just be on people of color to deal with it. It’s up to all of us—Black, white, everyone—no matter how well-meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting it out.”
“It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own. It ends with justice, compassion, and empathy that manifests in our lives and on our streets,” she continues.
The former First Lady concluded on a hopeful note, saying she prays “we all have the strength for that journey, just as I pray for the souls and the families of those who were taken from us.”
Her husband, former President Barack Obama shared similar sentiments on Twitter.
Mr Obama wrote speaking about racism in the US: “It can’t be ‘normal. If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better.”
Both statements came when protests have spread across the US as people mourn and show their anger over the death of Floyd.
Floyd, 46, an African-American, died Monday after he was pinned to the ground — handcuffed and unarmed — by a police officer with his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he cried out, “I can’t breathe.”
Several US cities across the country have imposed curfews in an attempt to stem the violent clashes between protesters and police over the death of George Floyd.
Widespread protests have taken place, with riot police using tear gas and rubber bullets after their vehicles were set alight in several cities.
President Trump blamed “looters and anarchists” for the violence.
Former police officer Derek Chauvin, 44 and white, has been charged with his murder and is due to appear in court on Monday.
That all started when a footage that went viral online, where Mr Chauvin can be seen kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck for several minutes. Mr Floyd repeatedly says that he is unable to breathe.
Three other officers present at the time have also since been sacked. The US cities that currently have curfews in place arePhiladelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Miami, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Columbus, Portland, Milwaukee and Salt Lake City.
You may read: George Floyd: The final moments of his life