Today, "kneeling on one knee" has become the most fashionable posture in the US. As a white police officer named Derek Chauvin put his knee against the neck of George Floyd, an African American, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds until he was unconscious and dead, large-scale demonstrations against racism broke out in the United States and many countries around the world. To quell people's anger and resentment, some US politicians have invented a way of mourning-- "kneeling on one knee."
On June 8, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and leader of the Democratic Party, together with 24 Democratic congresspersons, kneels on the floor for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to remember George Floyd while draping in scarves made from a cloth of colorful geometric Ghanaian designs called kente at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall in the US Capitol Visitor Center.
As early as May 31, when Democratic US presidential candidate Joe Biden visited Wilmington, Delaware, he also kneeled to talk with a black father and son and called for people to claim justice for Floyd’s tragic death. The next day, Biden vowed to address institutional racism in his first 100 days in office.
Unbelievable. The racist issue that has been plaguing the US for nearly two and a half centuries since its founding is expected to be substantially resolved within a hundred days. Is Biden talking tall? Please don’t try to shoot him down; there is another half sentence followed: the prerequisite to realize the goal is to elect him the next US President. On hearing this, people suddenly feel "relaxed."
For the US politicians, issuing rubber checks to win general election votes is obviously a routine operation, and definitely a "sure business to make profits."After all, President Donald Trump won the election with his campaign slogan of "making America great again" four years ago.
On the day when Biden released his "bold words", President Trump delivered a speech on national television from the Rose Garden of the White House on the protests triggered by Floyd's death. At the same time, the US police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters outside the White House to clear the way for the president to "show up" in front of St. John's Episcopal Church. Subsequently, Trump walked to the church and raised the Bible, saying: "We are the greatest country in the world."
However, the greatness of a country can never be achieved by just mouthing empty slogans. Putting on shows and staying at the center of the stage everyday rather than taking solid actions won’t help at all. Take the COVID-19 prevention and control as an example, the daily White House press conference on COVID-19 should have been a platform to communicate public health policies and information to the public. However, it was used as a tool for the US politicians to make their presence felt. A report from the Washington Post pointed out that President Trump hosted 22 press conferences from April 6 to 27 and spoke for over 13 hours, with up to 2 hours attacking political opponents, and 45 minutes praising himself and the federal government led by him. In contrast, the time spent on mourning the victims died of the COVID-19 was only 4.5 minutes.
On the other hand, the Democratic governors are not idle. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo alone has publicly criticized the federal government 11 times and bickered with the President at least 7 times. Their remarks like "then you can come here to choose among the 26,000 dying people" are eye-catching on the Internet. These politicians certainly have more exposure and consolidated their "guaranteed votes and fans" while the COVID-19 has also gone entirely out of control in this war of words and the ordinary Americans are left with fear of losing their jobs and lives.
History will definitely remember the scene at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall-after 8-minute-46-second kneeling, many congresspersons got numb in legs and needed help to stand up. Speaker Pelosi, who almost fell when getting up, told reporters, "Look, the policeman's knee has pressed against Floyd's neck for such a long time, and this is particularly painful even for us!" However, their words sound weird. The white policeman Derek Chauvin, who kneeled against Floyd's neck on one knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, may also have gotten a numb leg. Here is the question: who is this particularly painful "we"? Are you still thinking about pleasing both sides at this time? I can only say: Pelosi, your acting skills are excellent, but you have chosen the wrong posture!