Peaceful 'kneel-in' in San Francisco aims to bring changes to policing, end racism
SAN FRANCISCO - Community and religious leaders are hosting a peaceful "kneel-in" on Monday in the hopes of making "fundamental changes in policing people of color, and the removal of racist officers from the police department."
The action is being organized by actor and activist Jamie Foxx, Mayor London Breed, San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton, leaders from traditional black churches, rabbis from Temple Emanu-el, and the NAACP.
In a provocative piece in the San Francisco Chronicle titled "Colin Kaepernick and George Floyd: Two knees, two reactions, one issue," sports columnist Ann Killion wondered aloud: Maybe if we had listened to Colin Kaepernick four years ago, we wouldn’t be here.
Maybe if we had embraced Kaepernick’s peaceful protest, had taken it seriously, had paid attention to the issue he was trying to address, we could be working toward change instead of witnessing the chaos, anger and violence in our streets.
Because this was exactly what Kaepernick was protesting. Not the anthem. Not the flag. Not the military. But unchecked police brutality against people of color in our country.
In 2016, then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began protesting police brutality, social injustice and racial inequality by kneeling during the national anthem, and the demonstration spread to other players and teams.
Police officers around the country, including in Santa Cruz and New York, have also started to kneel with the community. Santa Cruz Police Chief Andy Mills said what happened to George Floyd disgusted him "to the core."
And around the world, citizens from Washington, D.C. to France knelt with signs that said "I can't breathe" and "No justice, no peace."
The images are striking because on the one hand, they conjure up Kaepernick's peaceful protest and on the other, they conjure up Officer Dereck Chauvin, who killed Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, by placing his knee on his neck.
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM - 2020/05/31: Protesters 'take a knee' during the demonstration. Hundreds attend a Black Lives Matter protest in Manchester's city centre in support against the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Kenny Brown/SOPA Images/Light
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 31: People take part in a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd at San Francisco City Hall on May 31, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Liu Guanguan/Chi
People kneel during a protest over the police killing of George Floyd in the USA, on June 1, 2020 in Bordeaux. - The United States has erupted into days and nights of protests, violence, and looting, following the death of George Floyd after he was d
SEATTLE, WA - MAY 31: Demonstrators kneel during a gathering to protest the recent death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Protests began peacefully Sunday after days of violent scenes in the city. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Im
People protesting the death of George Floyd kneel to pray at Lafayette Square next to the White House on May 31, 2020 in Washington,DC. - Thousands of National Guard troops patrolled major US cities after five consecutive nights of protests over raci
Hundreds of Philadelphians kneel in protest of system police violence and other forms of systemic racism in memory of George Floyd and other victims modern-day lynching at City Hall in Philadelphia, PA, on May 30, 2020. (Photo by Cory Clark/NurPhoto
Santa Cruz, California Police Chief Andy Mills takes a knee next to Santa Cruz Mayor Justin Cummings along with hundreds gathered on Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz on Saturday May 30, 2020 to honor the memory of George Floyd and bring attentio
SEATTLE, WA - MAY 31: Demonstrators kneel during a gathering to protest the recent death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Protests began peacefully Sunday after days of violent scenes in the city. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Im