Racism Is Increasingly Ironic With People's Habit Of Recording, Not Acting

JAKARTA - George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed by Minneapolis police. Floyd died in the presence of so many people who could do little but record. Not judging people around Floyd at that time. But, in fact, the habit of recording rather than acting does add to the irony of the issue of racism in the United States (US).

Floyd fell to his knees on the tarmac. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back. Above it, a policeman crushed Floyd's neck with his knee. The law enforcer was arrogant. She did not release the pressure on Floyd's neck, even though Floyd had repeatedly moaned, "I can't breathe!"

Floyd's screaming suddenly stopped. He died. The murder of Floyd sparked racial sentiment, pushing thousands of people onto the streets. The mass action resulted in the burning of the police station and clashes.

However, Floyd's death also reminds us of the famous views of black US actor Will Smith on the issue of racism in the US. "When I hear people say it (racism) is worse than before, I completely disagree," said Smith comparing the racial issues of the day with the 1960s or 1860s, we quoted from the Hollywood Reporter, Friday, May 29.

"Racism is not getting worse, it is being filmed."

Will Smith

Smith's statement was questioned by many US publics, although maybe not a big problem at that time, considering that the US was still under the leadership of Barack Obama. Under Obama, the issue of racism seemed more restrained. We use the word "appear" because in fact this assumption is not entirely correct. If it may be an analogy, just because your president is little fellow, it doesn't mean he is capable of solving your problems, O little fellow.

We cite US Department of Justice report data on hate crimes. In 2016, 3,571 hate crimes were recorded. That number increased in 2017 to 4,131 cases. In 2018, based on reports submitted by 16,039 US law enforcement agencies, there were 4,047 incidents of hate crimes.

That number is decreasing, actually. However, Pew Research Center data suggests that black and white adults have very different perceptions of how black people are treated in the US. But both groups agree that black people are treated less fairly than whites and in their dealings with the police.

About six in ten black people or more said that black people were treated less fairly than white people in terms of employment, pay, and promotion. Black people also experience difficulties in other sectors, when applying for loans or mortgages, when voting in elections, and when seeking medical care. Meanwhile, whites tend to say black people and white people are treated the same.

Ironic. More than 150 years after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery of blacks in the US, most people feel the legacy of slavery still has an impact on the position of black people in US society today. The Pew Research Center survey of blacks and whites also shows that the US has not made sufficient progress toward racial equality.

Many people are skeptical of solving racial problems in the US, especially among black people. They argued that black people could never have the same rights as white people. Not only blacks, Asian people like Chinese-Americans also experience discrimination in the country.

Following the Floyd case, Smith's statement was again raised by a number of people, including several public figures. Famous rapper, Snoop Dogg, for example. On his Instagram account, Snoop uploaded Smith's quote on the Late Show. Without writing a statement, Snoop's upload was actually translated by the public.

Some have caught this as Snoop's allusion to Smith's past political views. Others responded by condemning the dozens of people who surrounded Floyd while being tortured by the Minneapolis police, who instead of helping, could only record.

"This is leftist propaganda," wrote the @kobe_farmar account referring to Obama's Democratic Party.

"I once beat my brother up so badly when he came home from Minnesota and showed a video of bullying a black friend at his school by white kids. I mean, why don't people act ?!" Snoop uploads.

In 2014, there was a case involving the police against Michael Brown, an African-American teenager. At that time a policeman named Darren Wilson noticed that there was a pack of cigars in Brown's hand. Wilson then received a report that there was a cigar theft and at that time Wilson was confronted by an unarmed Brown.

Brown was walking with a friend in the middle of Canfield Drive, a busy two-lane road. Wilson then told them to walk on the sidewalk. When Brown heads to Wilson's car, a dispute begins. Brown runs. Suddenly, the teenager turned towards Wilson. Wilson confessed to investigators that Brown appeared "psychotic" and defiant.

Wilson fired several bullets as a warning. However, Brown continued to approach Wilson, until finally Wilson fired the last hot lead at Brown's head.

There are similarities in the case of Floyd and Brown. Both of them were dealing with the police and the people around them were recording the incident. When what happened to Floyd, people were filming it without giving any real help. In Brown's case too. In fact, people were only busy filming Brown's body, which was left lying for four hours.

In social psychology, this situation is known as "The Bystander Effect", which is a condition in which the presence of another person prevents a person from intervening in an emergency situation. In the case that happened to Floyd, instead of helping, people around Floyd hoped that someone else would help or they hoped the police would soon realize that his actions were wrong.

In The Bystander Effect, passivity is contagious, harboring individual initiative to help. People are more likely to take action in a crisis when there are few or no other witnesses present. Otherwise. The greater the number of people who witness an event, the less likely a person is to respond or act individually.

The social and behavioral paralysis described in The Bystander Effect can be reduced by practicing self-awareness. In some cases, training must be done explicitly. For example, schools and colleges must encourage students to speak up when witnessing acts of intimidation or potential attacks. One technique is to behave as if he or she is the first or only person to witness the problem.

In other words, passivity must be resisted. The completely individual social pattern, however, strengthens The Bystander Effect. Without this awareness, humans are increasingly trapped in indifference. If so, not only humans will die, but also humanity.