Assertions

Killer Mike’s Speech Assertion

After the murder of George Floyd, Killer Mike gave a speech to the citizens of Atlanta relating to the protests that were happening there at the time. The past few months after the killing of George Floyd, society had become more aware of the police brutality that black people have had to endure for so many years. The social activism of the country has grown a tremendous amount over such a little amount of time, from peaceful protests, social media sharing, petitions, and more. The world was and still is angry. Angry for the black lives that have been lost, angry for the systematic racism still prominent in today’s society, angry for the officers who don’t get prosecuted for ending black lives. Mike explained that he understands the anger, that he too wanted to see “the world burn down” because he is tired of seeing black men die. He then explained that burning your own house down will not do anything, the only thing that would change is that you won’t have a house anymore. “But, we have to be better than this moment. We have to be better than burning down our own homes because if we lose Atlanta, what else we got? We lose an ability to plot, to plan, to strategize, to organize, and to properly mobilize.” He explains that the people have a responsibility to change the city for the better. That they don’t want to see their city burn to the ground, but they want to have the four officers prosecuted and sentenced. They want to see the end of the police system that was built off of institutional racism. The violence and property damage, even though most incidents are caused by the police themselves, might send a message that the people are angry and want change, but what will we do for the changes to happen? 2020 has been a year with an unimaginable amount of losses, but this will be the year that changes start to happen as the public becomes more aware.