The American Society’s integration Crises Amidst George Floyd and The Police’s Heavy Hand

Abstract

Inequality within the criminal justice directed at Afro-Americans led to the outburst of overwhelming and violent demonstrations in some states following the murder of George Floyd- an American of African origin. Some intellectuals specialized in American affairs like Colin Murphy, see that America is facing –downfall in its status- due to the domestic issues that the American society faces on the political, social, and economic levels. In the same context, another group of intellectuals considers the downfall to be external as a result of the rise of another power, which some may define as the –trap of Thucydides- like Fareed Zakaria and John Mearsheimer. The third group sees that despite the crisis America is facing, it is not witnessing any domestic downfall, and no one can compete with it externally, as expressed by Joseph Nye.

 Nye says that American supremacy is due to its possession of the most important power factors, which are hard power manifesting in military and economic powers, and soft power, which includes the ability to integrate within the American society. Nye has found that America has a preferential quality compared to other countries, and Europe especially –The European Union- in this matter. However, what happened following Floyd’s death manifested the opposite of what Nye referred to; the demonstrators expressed their wrath towards the racial discrimination and attempt to exclude and rebuke them.

This paper also aims to provide observations about American citizens’ reactions within protest areas, in addition to the American police’s role in promoting the discrimination against Afro-Americans and its effect on failing the social integration process. Lastly, this paper will provide four future scenarios, two associated with the results of the American elections 2020, and its effect on the administration’s actions towards the demonstrators and vice versa. The other two scenarios will be associated with American legislation. The Third scenario will focus on the possibility of proceeding with constitutional legislations’ amendments related to the police’s behavior towards the citizens. The last scenario looks into the police’s ability to deal and practice self-control with citizens in the absence of legislation that prohibits citizens from owning arms.