Yes, George Floyd may have had a criminal record. Like most of us, he wasn’t “perfect.” That shouldn’t make him less deserving of respect and fairness. So yes, he might be seen as a martyr. His death electrified a response against the highly disproportionate number of police killings of Black men and boys, as well as the systemic racism that allows that.

Both anecdotal experience and studies show over and over that a white person involved in the same behavior as a Black person is far less likely to be killed – or, often, even apprehended.

This has to change, and that change requires those of us who are white to speak, act, and demand change, in solidarity with those most at risk.

Pamela Mills

Waldron