Yesterday, I prayed that the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial would choose the righteous verdict on all three counts against the former policeman. Time and time again, I watched the infamous video of a Black man crying out, “I can’t breathe!” and “Mama!” I saw a nine year old Black girl scream, “Get off of him!” With his knee still on George Floyd’s neck, I watched as a seemingly devilish Chauvin ignored the emergency responders shout, “Get off of him!” I heard the pleas of by-standers saying, “You’re killing him!” I watched the testimonies of witnesses, medical professionals, and other policemen say, “Mr. Chauvin’s actions were unnecessary, harmful, and not police policy for restraining a suspect. They caused George Floyd’s death.”
Before my eyes, evil surrounded Derek Chauvin, and I watched as the devil danced on his soul. The video of his knee on George Floyd’s neck will haunt me forever because I saw the lost soul of a White man whose heart had been destroyed by an evil that, I believe, even he cannot see. In my mind, I heard the words from the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not kill.” Chauvin’s eyes were the windows of his soul. There was no remorse, there were no tears, and there was no, “I’m so sorry,” on Chauvin’s face at the trial or when the verdicts were read. There was only the White supremacist eyes of evil, an evil that still, today, strives to choke my heart.
After the guilty verdicts were announced, I watched crowds outside the court house, around cities across our nation, and one Black young man on his knees outside the fence in front of the White House raise their grateful voices in cheers and tearful prayers for the words that finally gave them some peace, a promise that was heard in the “I Have a Dream” speech of Dr. Martin Luther King. While this was a victory for George Floyd and his family’s efforts, there are countless other Black Americans who are waiting, in fear, for their justice and needs to be met. People of many races and backgrounds have spoken out in the Black Lives Matter movement about the unjustified use of violence by the police in restraining suspects, but until racism of all kinds is eradicated in this country, there are many people who act out against the rights of others and are willing to kill to say, “I don’t like you because you are different.”
Now that We the People have spoken, elected officials in cities, states, and the Congress must do the righteous thing. We are all created equal in the eyes of the Lord. Let not the selfish and partisan desires of our officials stand as the law of the land, while the needs of all races, creeds, religions, and genders take second place. This is America, and we can change the laws that keep people of color on a lessor rung of the equality ladder. I treasure our diversity as a nation. Without immigration laws that gave my grandparents access to citizenship, I would not be an American. I would be Hungarian and German. I am not willing to sit back and watch evil take hold in America. The Lord knows how many nations in the history of the world sat back as evil took hold in their countries. I pray that the Lord will bring peace to America in a way that we learn to love one another once again as brothers and sisters. “Thank you, Lord, for guiding the jury to the righteous decision, and I ask that You continue to be the One whom we place our trust in. A-men.”
Anna Hartt
