Honor Him?
Today marks a milestone in the annals of the absurd. Multiply convicted felon George Floyd had a “send off” fit for a hero. A four hour funeral included eulogies from a who’s who of charlatans, led by the dean of self serving opportunists, Al Sharpton. Both yesterday and today featured a bonanza of ceremonies “honoring” Floyd. For what act of heroism was all this acclaim proffered? For what great accomplishment was all of this adulation bestowed? Well, let’s take a look at the record.
Floyd was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1973. He was a talented basketball player in high school and played college basketball in community college. He played briefly for Texas A&M before dropping out of college.
In 1994 he began performing as a “rapper” in an aptly named group “Screwed Up Click.” (source: Wikipedia.com)
His first publicly documented arrest was in 1998 when he was convicted of firearm theft and served 10 months in Harris County Jail. (source: dailymail.co.uk, May 28, 2020)
In 2002 he was convicted of criminal trespass and served 30 days in jail.
Also in 2002 he was convicted of cocaine possession and served 8 months.
He was convicted again of cocaine possession in 2005 and served 10 months.
In 2009 he was convicted of home invasion, armed robbery and assault. During the invasion he pointed a gun at the abdomen of a pregnant woman. He was sentenced to 5 years.
He was released in 2013 and moved to Minneapolis and made some efforts at reform. In 2017 he participated in the filming of an anti gun video.
On May 25, 2020 he attempted to purchase cigarettes with an obviously counterfeit $20 bill, and refused to return the cigarettes as requested by the sales clerk. Autopsy showed evidence of intoxication with methamphetamine and fentanyl. He resisted arrest required restraint and the rest, as they say, is history.
Does this biography sound like one we should honor? Is his life journey one that we should commend to our children? One that we should eulogize and laud?
There is extremely cogent commentary in this regard posted as a video essay on facebook recently by Candace Owens, a conservative black activist. In the video Ms. Owens makes a very perceptive observation inspired by contemporary black author Shelby Steel. Both Steele and Owens point out that contemporary black American culture is unique in that it is the only ethnic culture that caters to the worst of its members. White culture, Jewish culture and even Hispanic culture would never celebrate the life of a career criminal with a history of violent and armed assault who has been convicted on numerous occasions. And, she’s right. No other culture would “honor” such a man. And neither should black culture.
The circumstances of his death are a tragedy, for sure, but are a completely separate issue, and one that I have previously written about. (It Was NOT Murder, 6/3/20).
And, although some apologists want us to believe that Floyd had “turned his life around” and had become a paragon of virtue, these sentiments are belied by the fact that Floyd was intoxicated on a combination of extremely potent drugs, was passing counterfeit money and resisted arrest. These are NOT behaviors of some one who has successfully “turned his life around.”
Nothing about George Floyd, as Candace Owens has pointed out, is deserving of honor. Let’s reserve honor and praise for those that truly deserve it.