Magic Johnson still fears how his kids will speak to the police after $27 million settlement in George Floyd’s case
Magic Johnson is still haunted by the events surrounding George Floyd’s murder in 2020, and he finds ways to make sure his kids know how to talk to cops.
2020 was a dark year for several reasons. The Covid-19 pandemic was at its height, and in the midst of it, police brutality reared its ugly head.
George Floyd was murdered by former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin who pressed his knee down on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, killing him.
Floyd pleaded with the cop, telling him he couldn’t breathe, but it didn’t matter. Chauvin was fired and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree man slaughter. Chauvin was found guilty and was sentenced to 22.5 years.
Perspective: The Jan. 6 insurrection, the Arizona audit, the Derek Chauvin verdict and other scenes from 2021 that show where we are as a nation — and where we’re going https://t.co/Q7MlyLtVUF
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 29, 2021
Magic Johnson makes sure his kids understand the importance of George Floyd’s case
The city of Minneapolis found a way to make some ammends to the Floyd family. Of course, there’s no way to put a price on a human life, but the city agreed to pay the family $27 million to settle the lawsuit the family started.
The agreement was the largest pre-trial settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit in US history. Magic Johnson made sure that his kids stayed eductaed after the incident, however.
He said that he had ‘the talk’ from his father who got ‘the talk’ from his father. This talk is a rather uncomfortable one. With the way the US is set up, racism still runs deep. It’s a systematic issue and one that will take a lot of fighting to end.
Therefore, Magic’s family, and most likely several other families, understand the troubles that come with being a black man in the US, and educate their kids on how to speak with cops and how interactions could go.
Of course, sometimes, it can make no difference as it did in Floyd’s case, but the fear of being unjustly punished by a police officer runs that deep that families feel the need to have this conversation. They need to ensure that their kids are aware of the unjustice they could face at any moment. It’s a sad but harsh truth.
“I had that conversation because it’s important that I have that conversation with both E.J. and Andre,” Johnson said about his sons. “Let’s look at George Floyd. He did everything he was supposed to do. And this police officer put all his body weight, all his body weight on his neck, right, for eight minutes. So if that can happen to George Floyd, it can happen to E.J. and Andre and more black men.”
Hopefully, one day, things can come to a place where families no longer need to have these cconversations and can trust police freely, but as of now, the state of the US isn’t that free.
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