A pair of Harvard deans urged students to consider what led up to the violent protests that have taken place across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death last week while he was in police custody.
Harvard house faculty deans Brian Farrell and Irina Ferreras argued in an email that the riots were “symptoms of the disease, not the disease itself,” according to the Harvard Crimson.
“America continues to fail in looking for ways to erase the inequality and the conditions in which minorities must live,” they wrote. “Large segments of our society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity.”
“As long as America continues to ignore and delay justice, we stand in the position of having these repeated recurrences of violence. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention,” they added.
The two deans said the riots were “socially destructive and self-defeating” and “nonviolent means are the most potent ways to fight for our causes.”
The protests began after 46-year-old Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25. After a video of the arrest created community outrage, demonstrations spread to cities across the country. Many of the protests, which have taken place for nearly an entire week, have turned violent, including destruction to businesses, fires, assaults, and looting.
Customs and Border Protection and the National Guard have deployed to some areas around the country, and certain cities have implemented curfews to help stem the destruction.
Floyd, a black man, died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin restrained him by placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd’s detainment were fired on Tuesday. Chauvin was taken into custody on Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
