For all the George Floyds.

One news story this week has stolen world headlines, as you probably know already, from the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's not a good one. I obviously mean the choking death of African-American crime suspect George Floyd at the hands of white policeman Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd was arrested for trying to use a counterfeit $20 note in a deli and during the arrest, was held down as Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds, during which time Floyd repeatedly complained of being unable to breathe.

The four officers involved in Floyd's arrest have already been fired, thankfully. But that firing could not prevent public demonstrations happening in support of him, which quickly escalated into riots that are now spreading across the US. These riots have already been likened to those that happened in Los Angeles in 1992, although those ones happened not after the assault of African-American motorist Rodney King but after the officers involved were all acquitted.

But enough of the journalistic commentary for now. The fact that these riots have happened, and are spreading, during a time of demanded social distancing because of a global pandemic, emphasises clearly just how little the United States are truly united still, along racial lines. That disunity must be fixed, as must racial inequality here in Australia where the indigenous population are disproportionately represented in prison statistics much like African-Americans are Stateside.

My heart and thoughts go out to Mr. Floyd's entire community, particularly his family, and I hope the causes of these ongoing riots across America are eradicated quickly, peacefully, and permanently.

RIP. #BlackLivesMatter.