Below are some selected excerpts from Al Sharpton’s eulogy at George Floyd’s funeral. The full eulogy can be watched here and read here.
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‘I hear people talk about what happened to George Floyd, like there was something less than a crime….This is not just a tragedy. It was a crime. …this is a time that we need to understand that they’re going to do everything they can to delay these trials and delay the accountability and try to wear this family down.
‘We must commit to this family, all of this family….Because lives like George will not matter until somebody pays the cost for taking their lives.
‘And until we know the price for black life is the same as the price for white life, we’re going to keep coming back to these situations, over and over again.
‘We are not fighting, some disconnected incidents. We are fighting an institutional, systemic problem that has been allowed to permeate since we were brought to these shores….When you can put your knee on a man’s neck and hold it there eight minutes and 46 seconds, that’s not even normal to a civilian less known to a police officer. …Try when you go home to put your knee down on something and hold it there that long. You got to be full of a lot of venom. Full of something that really motivates you to press down your weight that long, and not give up.
‘Imagine you pressing down on something, eight minutes, that’s telling you, ‘I can’t breathe’. That’s begging for their life. And you keep pressing. What kind of mentality is that? …Until the law is upheld and people know they will go to jail, they’re gonna keep doing it because they are protected by wickedness in high places.
‘The President talks about bringing in the military. But he has not said one word about eight minutes and 46 seconds of police murder of George Floyd….He challenged China on human rights. What about the human rights of George Floyd?
‘Oh it’s nice to see some people change their mind though. Head of the NFL said, “Yeah, maybe we was wrong. Football players, maybe they did have the right to peacefully protest.” Well, don’t apologise, give Colin Kaepernick a job back … Then repay the damage you did to the career you stood down because when Colin took a knee, he took it for the families in this building and we don’t want an apology, we want him repaid.
‘…they never thought they’d see young whites marching like they’re marching now all over the world I’ve seen grandchildren of slave masters, tearing down a slave master statue over in England and put it in the river … I’ve seen whites, walking past curfews saying, “Nope, Black Lives Matter – No justice no peace.”
‘You’re sitting now trying to figure out, how you can stop the protest, rather than how you will stop the brutality. … You’re calling your cabinet in trying to figure out how it’s gonna affect your vote, rather than how it’s going to affect our lives. You’re scheming on how you can spin the story, rather than you can achieve justice. Wickedness in high places. You take rubber bullets and tear gas to clear out peaceful protesters and then take our bible and walk in front of a church, and use a church as a prop. Wickedness in high places.
‘I want to say, we have said we are going to keep marching. We going to keep protesting. August 28 we’re going to Washington by the tens of thousands. We’re gonna have a national march on the anniversary of “I have a dream.” The Floyd family and other families are gonna lead it.
‘We gonna fight on. We gonna fight on. We gonna fight on. We gonna fight on.’