SAG-AFTRA Leaders Condemn Racism After George Floyd’s Death

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris and National Executive Director David P. White have spoken out against the death of George Floyd and racism in the U.S. after days of protests around the country.

​“The murder of George Floyd is deeply emblematic of a corrosive inequality and injustice at the heart of America,” Carteris and White said. “As protests spread across the country it is not enough to condemn injustice. It’s not enough to demand change. We must recognize that racism lives in our culture and only we can change that. We must speak up in the face of injustice and fight back against the indignities our fellow citizens face every day. We must be defenders and allies. We must be better than this.”

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was seen on video using his knee to pin down Floyd, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Chauvin was captured on video pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck as the handcuffed 46-year-old Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd later died on May 25.

Floyd’s death set off days of protests in Minneapolis and across the country as demonstrators also spoke out against other recent killings of black men and women.

“The ugly truth is that Mr. Floyd’s killing was one among many murders of black people over many years,” Carteris and White said. “Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Jr., Marsha P. Johnson, Emmett Till, and the list goes painfully on and on stretching back for centuries. It must end. Black lives do matter. Our union will continue its efforts to dismantle racism and work to build a more just and equitable society for all.”​