POLITICAL ACCENTS
Between tears, slogans: the funeral of George Floyd, yesterday in Houston (Texas), mixed tributes and fiery calls to attack, finally, the racism that “hurts the soul” of America. From family to pastors, President Donald Trump was manhandled several times during this funeral organized in the Fountain of Praise church in the Texas city where this 46-year-old African American had spent most of his life.
A figure in the civil rights struggle, Reverend Al Sharpton, who delivered the funeral praise broadcast live in millions of homes, even accused the president of “maleficence”, accusing him of encouraging the police to believe themselves above the law. On a more intimate note, the relatives of the deceased, very moved, greeted “Big George”, their “superman”, their “gentle giant” whose stature – almost two meters – did not prevent a police officer from suffocate him, kneeling for almost nine minutes on his neck, a fortnight ago in Minneapolis.
At the end of the ceremony, hundreds of people chanting the name of George Floyd accompanied his remains, transported in a white funeral carriage to the Memorial Gardens cemetery in the suburbs of Houston. For the privacy of the family, the press was not allowed to attend the burial.
“We can no longer turn away from the racism that hurts our souls,” Joe Biden, the former vice-president of Barack Obama, who will face Donald Trump in the presidential election next November, said in a recorded video earlier. enjoys great popularity among black voters.
Several elected Democrats succeeded each other in the gallery, but it was George Floyd’s young niece who first ventured into clearly political terrain. “Some say they want to make America great,” said Brooke Williams, referring to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. “But, when was America big?” And Reverend Bill Lawson added, calling on the Americans to “vote”: “The first thing we need to do is clean up the White House.”
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