This archive report was first published on 23 June 2020.
June 23, 2020, marked a turning point in the United States as the world witnessed the brutal 'knee-on-neck' police killing of African-American George Floyd. The incident sparked widespread outrage and protests, exposing deep-seated racial undertones in the country.
South African economist Clem Sunter once described the political situation in South Africa in 1986, when the ruling National Party and African National Congress (ANC) were engaged in independence negotiations. He wrote: “The parties were nudged to the table, where good sense and a common South Africanness ensured a successful outcome. It proved that scenarios turn unthinkable into the possible, the possible into the reasonable, and the reasonable into reality.”
Fast-forward to the present, and it's clear that the US police behaved with impunity, much like their Apartheid-era counterparts in South Africa. The mishandling of Floyd's killing in broad daylight in a country that prides itself on respecting human rights and freedoms raises questions about the role of religion, law, and education in shaping human behavior.
Jesus' command in Mark 31 to “love your neighbour as yourself” and the Israelites' instruction in Leviticus 19:33-34 to “love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt” have a profound impact on Christians and other faiths. The American constitution and Kenya's constitution also provide for human rights and responsibilities, yet law enforcement officers continue to disregard the law.
Education plays a vital role in shaping human behavior, and the 8-4-4 syllabus taught Social Education and Ethics in Forms One and Two. Many individuals in public service, including the police, were exposed to this course in school. It's puzzling why they would act against what religion requires, schools teach, and the law provides for.
Given this disturbing trend, governments may need to review the school syllabus to introduce subjects that shape human behavior. This is consistent with the recommendation of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century report to Unesco, which observes that “the idea of teaching non-violence in schools is laudable even if it is only one means among many for combating the prejudices that lead to conflict.”
Religious organisations that offer programmes for the youth and young adults through Sunday school and madrassa may also need to review their course contents to encompass the need to control or suppress violence. The Judiciary and the Executive must strive for objectivity in the application of the law.
The cost implications of the Floyd protests cannot be quantified, yet they were avoidable. Countries urgently need to work on turning the unthinkable idea of eliminating all forms of discrimination into possibilities that will, subsequently, be turned into the reasonable, and the reasonable to realities, as ably observed by Sunter in South Africa.
Mr Sogomo is a former Secretary of the Teachers Service Commission.
