All across the nation, especially in large cities, riots have broken out over the death of George Floyd, but this week in Columbia members of the community decided to peacefully protest.
Sherri Hartwell, who helped organize rallies held Sunday and Monday at the corner of Broad Street and South High School Avenue, said the issue is something the whole United States is dealing with and that Floyd’s death opened up old wounds for them in Columbia.
“We just want to show that even though we’re in a small town we have George Floyds here in Columbia. We wanted to take a stand and show that black lives do matter,” Hartwell said.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died May 25 in Minneapolis shortly after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, held his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, even after Floyd was unconscious and as bystanders begged the officer to let up. All four officers at the scene were fired, and Chauvin, 44, has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Video recordings of the incident have sparked protests throughout the country.
Monday afternoon in front of the Marion County Courthouse sitting in the open sun were Jewel Martin, who is white, and Jena Lee, who is black. Together they sat there in the name of justice holding different signs; people honked and waved, and a vehicle that contained a white family pulled up to them offering water and their support.
“Personally I feel like we should try to show as much support as we can to the African American community,” Martin said.
In 2020, Martin said, there is no place for senseless killing and police brutality. She said even though what happened was a long way from Columbia, it deeply affected every black person. “When they saw his face (George Floyd), they see their mother, their father, their brother, their sister, their son and daughter. We owe it to each other to love and protect each other,” Martin said.
Lee said for her it is important that people understand that in Columbia people care about what is happening in the rest of the country.
“We want to raise awareness about this because it is really important to show that me and Jewel could protest together as black and white people,” Lee said.
At 3 p.m. on Monday a larger peaceful protest was held at the corner of Broad Street and South High School Avenue where more than 30 people attended, including members of the black community, white community and law enforcement. Various signs were held and people from all communities honked and waved as they drove by.
Ricardo Lewis held a sign saying “I am not a threat.” He said he feels like if the police kill a black man it is no big deal.
“No, it’s not. They will drive people to believe they do not have a purpose here. Everyone has a purpose here, every soul on this earth has a purpose,” he said.
Lewis, who is black, said people sometimes look at them and think the worst just because the way they dress and the color of the skin.
“The whole atmosphere changes,” Lewis said.
Hartwell said she hopes to accomplish everyone coming together as one. “At the end of the day we are all one. If you bleed, you are going to bleed red; we are all one,” she said.
“Our men and boys become afraid when they are pulled over. Communication has to start,” Chirika Gates said.
Members of the Columbia Police Department were on hand for the protest, including Chief Michael Kelly. Kelly said until communication happens with everyone, ignorance will continue to discredit what is trying to be achieved. He said he wants to better understand what it feels like being in the minority and vice versa.
“It should not be a crime for you to leave your house and go to the store and get stopped because you are a black man; that is against the law,” Kelly said talking with one of the protesters.
Kelly said he believes strides have already been made in the community. He referenced a unity walk held in 2019 with the community coming together and also a couple months ago when members of the department took part in a basketball game at Duckworth Park.
“Change is not going to happen overnight, but we are going to move forward,” Kelly said.
Kelly said his goal Monday was to show the black community the police department is with them. No human being, regardless of color or race, should die a slow tragic death on the asphalt, he said.
“We as a police department are going to stand when we see an injustice. Those police officers took an oath, probably with their hands on the Scriptures, that they would uphold the law and protect human life, and they failed to act and they failed miserably and that is why I’m here,” Kelly said.
Kelly said his message to the law enforcement community is, “We got to do better.”
