The Shakerite VOL 91 ISSUE I

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friend of Garner recorded andposted a video of the incident. Inthe video, Garner can be heardsaying the same desperate wordsFloyd said: “I can’t breathe.”In 2016, Alton Sterling, a37-year-old Black man, was shotand killed by a Baton Rouge policeofficer. Two bystanders postedvideo footage of the shootingtaken by a bystander, which waswidely shared on social media.Later, the Baton Rouge PoliceDepartment released the officer’sbody camera footage.These videos have beenshared and retweeted over andover again and serve as constantreminders to the families ofthose victims. Generation Z hasbeen desensitized to the violenceand trauma that result fromwatching a human be killed.Sharing the videos is not goingto bring back those who havebeen killed, and sharing thosevideos will not stop racism.The 1955 photos of EmmettTill’s broken body in a casket didnot end racism. The 2015 dashcamfootage of police shootingWalter Scott did not end racism.The 2014 footage of MichaelBrown lying dead in the middleof a street did not end racism.The 2016 video of Keith Scottbeing killed by police did not endracism. The 2016 Facebook livestream of Philando Castile beingshot by a police officer did notend racism. No video or pictureof a Black person losing their lifeis going to end racism.People empathetically repostthe videos in an effort to dosomething in the face of crisis,Tweets of thevideo of Floyd’sdeath wereviewed around1.4 billion timesbetween May 25and June 5.but to the victims’ families, theseefforts, although perhaps wellintended, only amplify their pain.George Floyd’s 7-year-old daughternow has to see the video ofher father’s death for the rest ofher life. She has to constantlybe reminded that a police officerknelt on her father’s neck fornine minutes and 29 seconds.People should not treat therecord of a family’s worst day asjust another social media trend.People post these videos to“raise awareness” of police brutalityagainst Black people, butare videos of murders necessaryto prove that? Is it not alreadyknown that the police disproportionatelykill Black people?Are people unaware that racismexists? If they truly are unawarethat racism exists, that is aproblem, and watching a video ofa Black man dying should not bethe way to educate them. If theyare already aware, they shouldn’tneed to see a video of a blatantracist act. People consumefootage of Black death withoutconsidering the cost to the Blackcommunity.Sophomore CarringtonHughes, a Black student, feelsthese videos shouldn’t be shared.“As an African-American individual,it constantly reminds me ofhow much my life is in dangerevery day,” she said. “For me,social media is a place to escape,and when I am nearly forced tohear about racism and death24/7, it really ruins my mentalwell-being.”Videos of white death arealmost never shared. The videos38VOL. 91 ISSUE I
of ISIS beheading a white Americanman were taken down rightaway by social media platformsand not able to be repostedbillions of times on the internet.Turning on the news or openingTwitter does not mean anyoneshould have to see a video of aBlack citizen’s life being extinguished.According to data compiledby Mapping Police Violence,law enforcement officers havekilled about 1,100 people a yearsince 2013. Most of those victimswere either Black or Latino menunder the age of 30. Police killingsof Black citizens are nothingnew. The data’s constantlytrending flat line is not changing,no matter how many videos areposted.The victims in the videosare people. Their deaths meanfar more than one single video.They are sons, daughters, fathers,mothers, spouses, cousins,aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters,nephews, friends and loved bytheir communities. They neverAlona Millergot the chance to say goodbye,and they will be missed forever.They are not a social media trendto be posted just so people canproclaim that they are anti-racistwithout taking any other action.These viral videos dehumanizethe victims, and this trend willnot solve racism or end policebrutality, no matter how muchpeople wish it would.It is true that these videoshave driven millions of protestersto the streets nationwide,forced some police departmentsSpring 2021 THE SHAKERITE 39
Page 1 and 2: THESHAKERITEVOL. 91 ISSUE I MAY 28,
Page 3 and 4: A NOTE FROM THE EDITORMy time at Th
Page 5 and 6: Redifining Terrorism // Page 42The
Page 7 and 8: According to Richter’s work, the
Page 9 and 10: financing because of the changing r
Page 11 and 12: been complete racial turnover, if y
Page 13 and 14: Opal Tometi. They formed the organi
Page 15 and 16: Black Lives Matter organized protes
Page 17 and 18: E BLM MOVEMENTsystem rarely holds p
Page 19 and 20: Alona Miller“Kill All Muslims”
Page 21 and 22: world outside,” he said.Polster p
Page 23 and 24: Alona Millerty more than it benefit
Page 25 and 26: but we’re bringing in the learnin
Page 27 and 28: Agroup peacefullyprotestingpolice b
Page 29 and 30: Peaceful vigil to honor George Floy
Page 31 and 32: Chyna (“ANT Farm”) and Rocky (
Page 33 and 34: protagonists experiencing a racial
Page 35 and 36: Only four of those 13 have seen a
Page 37: the FBI would be joining the invest
Page 41 and 42: Eliminate vocabulary that may be mi
Page 44 and 45: What is the first thing that comest
Page 46 and 47: ‘RITE IDEA’RITE IDEA:LEARNING A
Page 48 and 49: ing continues, it’s important tha
Page 50 and 51: World gives students a more global
Page 52 and 53: SPOTLIGHTTAKINGShaker Heights City
Page 54 and 55: RAIDER ZONEBACK TO THE LAKE ERIE LE
Page 56 and 57: Junior basketball player Danny Youn
Page 58 and 59: GUEST RITESSH4BL URGES ALTERNATIVES
Page 60: PHOTO GALLERYBLACKLIVESMATTERFollow
Page 63: 49 of Cleveland’s LocalBlack-Owne

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