‘The Global Legacy of George Floyd’ takes the listeners to five countries around the globe, where George Floyd’s death catalyzed local modern civil rights movements in one way or another. The scale of the impact of Floyd’s killing was one of a kind, and there are several reasons why an incident that would otherwise barely make headlines outside of the US ended up sparking systematic changes around the world. Here are a few from my perspective.
Though American influence has declined and the myth of American exceptionalism has faded, events in the US continue to shape the course of events around the world. News and tweets about Floyd’s death spread fairly fast as it happened in a country that is constantly under spotlight internationally. In addition, Floyd’s death reflects institutional racism and injustice, which is deeply rooted in virtually all societies in one form or another. Citizens around the world found themselves living different versions of Floyd’s reality, and his death served as a wake-up call to battle the power imbalances, racism, and oppression people face on a daily basis. Last but not least, the incident was filmed and reached audiences around the globe with the help of social media; the graphic and audio content vividly regenerates Floyd’s death scene, giving viewers a visceral experience- they were able to see the knee on Floyd’s neck and hear his last cries for his ‘mama’, and many viewers, including myself, found it hard to finish watching the video without pauses in between. The emotions conveyed by the clip was so raw that it transcended boundaries of class, ethnicity, and nation, evoking strong empathy and anger, and propelled actions to show solidarity and to fight for changes.
I was particularly impressed by Kenyan’s response to the incident. Kenya has a long history of police brutality, yet any comments on this issue has always been silenced by the state; local deaths are often left unmourned and Kenyans gradually become numb to the cruel and unjust treatment. Floyd’s death provided an outlet for them to publicly grieve and protest with the rest of the world, and I am hopeful this collective mourning will gain further traction and create long-lasting impacts in the country.
The global legacy of George Floyd reminds me of the silence-breaking butterfly effect of the #MeToo Movement in East Asia, where power imbalances are prominent and sexual assault survivors face significant social stigma. For instance, in Japan, the culture and legal system often undermine and ignore sex crimes, and only around 4% rape survivors end up reporting the incident due to stigma and dismissive attitude of law enforcement. The movement sparked discussions about sexual assault and consent on both social and traditional media platforms in Japan, and some sexual assault survivors like Ito Shiori came forth to tell their stories, exposing predatory behaviors of several prominent figures in the country. Much like what happened in Nairobi, the #MeToo Movement gives Japanese people a legitimate way to bring awareness to an issue that has long been ignored, as well as a start point for systematic changes.
I found that the social movement you introduced at the end of your post to be very interesting. I agree that often times in Asian cultures, there is a wide array of stigmas that are often avoided or ignored as a whole. It is important that as time moves forth, we too must be able to progress by trying to conquer these dismissive attitudes and stigmas, as you put it.
The influence the #MeToo movement has had on Asia is really interesting to hear about. I used to be really into K-Pop (albeit not Japanese like you mentioned) and stuff like that, and the things I would hear about blatant misogyny or sexual assault being swept under the rug both in the industry and in the country as a whole were utterly disappointing. I think it is amazing that women in Asia are can find strength from the #MeToo movement to finally start a discussion of consent and educate their countries on why sexual assault is so serious.
Thanks for the comment Julianna! Actually read about a misogynistic incident that happened to a K-Pop girl group yesterday, and there is no doubt that things like that happen every day, since the industry is infamous for the sexualization and sexual exploitation of young girls. There is still a long way to go when it comes to abolishing stigma and eliminating assault in Asia, but I am glad that people are becoming aware that such behavior are wrong-doings and are collectively speaking out against it.