Publications
Partners
- George Clooney has penned a powerful essay for The Daily Beast following the death of George Floyd.
- "The anger and the frustration we see playing out once again in our streets is just a reminder of how little we've grown as a country from our original sin of slavery," he writes, referencing the ongoing protests in the US.
- The actor urged citizens to vote to ensure change happens.
George Clooney is calling for systematic change in law enforcement and the criminal justice system as protests escalate in the US.
The actor wrote an essay for The Daily Beast after a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, was murdered on 25 May after a police officer pressed his knee on his neck. An autopsy confirmed he died of "asphyxiation from sustained pressure" as blood flow was cut off to his brain. Further, the medical examiner's office said the cause of death was "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression", reports CNN.
All four officers have since lost their job while Derek Chauvin, the officer who pressed his knee on the 46-year-old's neck, has been charged with murder.
In his essay, the 59-year-old talks about how this seems to keep on happening.
"The anger and the frustration we see playing out once again in our streets is just a reminder of how little we've grown as a country from our original sin of slavery," he writes. "We need systemic change in our law enforcement and in our criminal justice system. We need policymakers and politicians that reflect basic fairness to all of their citizens equally. Not leaders that stoke hatred and violence as if the idea of shooting looters could ever be anything less than a racial dog whistle."
"This is our pandemic," he says. "It infects all of us, and in 400 years we've yet to find a vaccine. It seems we've stopped even looking for one and we just try to treat the wound on an individual basis. And we sure haven't done a very good job of that."
The actor says: "Just remember we created these issues so we can fix them," before urging citizens in the US to vote.
The A-lister isn't the first to use his platform to raise awareness. Stars including Kendrick Sampson, Halsey, Michael B Jordan and Ariana Grande have taken to the streets to join protesters, while Chrissy Teigen and more have pledged millions to post bail for those arrested during the demonstrations.
READ MORE: How Chrissy Teigen, Beyoncé and more are doing their part amid protests in the US
