The Courage to See

We have all seen the anguish on the faces of the witnesses as they gave testimony in the trial regarding the death of the George Floyd. They were so troubled by the fact that they did not act in the moment to save his life. I am sure that privately they feel shame and that they think they lacked courage in that horrible nine minutes. However, there are times when ultimately what is needed are witnesses; people who will not turn away and will then teach us all about what happened. Along with the ultimate sacrifice that George Floyd was forced to make on that infamous day, witnesses became the adjunct heroes in this tragedy. They witnessed the crime for all of us and shielded us from the horrors of the direct reality. They came forth to give account and stand up for justice. They told the story to the rest of us so that we would know the truth and then morally act as one.

There are occasions in every life when taking action is the right thing to do. However, there are special times when holding one’s ground and witnessing something is the requirement for making a difference. This is because the occurrence demands that someone be able to recount for others what happened so that a truth can be universally recognized. When Mary the Mother of Jesus walked along the path of her son Jesus carrying the very cross he was about to be hung upon, she did so stoically. Carrying that same horrifying burden, she stood vigil beneath the cross for three hours as Jesus suffered an agonizing death. She did not organize an army to stop his walk to death nor did she personally attack the Roman soldiers who stood guard over the execution. She knew that the destiny of the moment was in the hands of her son and his persecutors. Contrast that with the actions of his friend, the apostle Peter, on the evening when Jesus was taken into custody. Peter’s first reaction to those apprehending Jesus was to draw his sword and cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants. However, later at the high priest’s house, when confronted by people in the crowd regarding his affiliation with Jesus, Peter denies he knows him three times; he choses to bear false witness. His violent actions earlier in the evening were inspired by rage but when he was asked to give calm witness to his friendship he was unable to summon the courage to do so. Aggression in the moment of emotion can in fact be easier than witnessing and recounting. Being physically proactive is not always the more difficult thing to do.  

There are moments that society must be forced to confront a malignancy that it intuitively knows to exist but refuses to outwardly recognize. These are instances when society must be made to witness a reality which is horrendous in its truth. When Martin Luther King sent people across the bridge in Selma or children out to face the police, their dogs, and punishing streams of water from fire hoses, he knew that they were going to feel the physical pain of racism. He was acutely aware of the fact that many would be injured and some could lose their lives. This agonizing decision was ruled by the need to create witnesses. It was a calculation that included human suffering. But it was necessary for those who knew of the injustices but had not witnessed racism firsthand to be forced to look at and then personally deal with its harsh reality within their own consciences. White society had to be forced into the difficult role of witness. There was no turning away or ability to discount. The brutality and personal sacrifice was right there in plain view.

Taking away the religious origins of the story surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus and viewing it solely from a human perspective, we are left with a mother, her victimized son and the weakness of a friend. It explicitly shows how important and in many cases how difficult it is to be a witness. Recounting historical moments in the civil rights struggle merely references that sometimes shocking truths must be illuminated visually to the unaffected. This prime example defines the reality that there are crucial moments when the public at large needs to be forced to see that which it only covertly acknowledges. In the case of George Floyd, a man has lost his life in an all too common, racially motivated action by a person of authority. Those who witnessed the killing of George Floyd not only showed the strength to not look away but also the courage to tell the world the horrifying tale. The saw and then made the rest of us see.

We have all had times in our lives when we have been faced with something that our minds cannot justify with our experientially based reality. We have all been frozen in place by that which cannot immediately comprehend. Conjunctively we have all been indoctrinated in the behavioral belief that persons of authority must be respected and followed. These two factors came in to play on that fateful day of George Floyd’s death. What transpired on the day of the incident similarly affected the strongest man to the smallest child in the witnessing crowd. They wanted to do something but they, like any of us in that situation, were frozen by initial disbelief and binding social order. The truth is that at that at the time of the incident there was really nothing they could have done accept what they did; witness. They watched intently, recorded the atrocity and came forth to tell the story. They gave George Floyd’s death meaning in a world where so many others have been similarly injured and murdered without notice or memory.

So to those who were there and strong enough to witness the death of George Floyd I would say this. Do not feel guilt. Replace your shame with pride as you hear these words I confidently speak for the righteous majority of people. Thank you for shouldering the burden for us. Thank you for having the courage to not look away. Thank you for telling us this story so that it could become personal to all of us. Thank you taking away the shock that freezes us all in the face of authority. Our eyes are now open and or hearts are now filled with the courage that your unwavering testimony has sponsored. You are the creators of a new societal consciousness. The moment cried out for witnesses and you brave few stood tall and said, “Yes!”