The Blank Stare

It was the blank stare. That horrific blank stare. It was the blank stare of a sociopath.

People recoiled in horror as a man was murdered in front of them. Yet the eyes never wavered, never flickered with the least bit of humanity whatsoever.

The blank stare said, “It’s no big deal. Nothing to see here. Just a black man being murdered in the street by a white police officer.” There was almost a nonchalance to it. The monster feared no recriminations whatsoever.

As onlookers reminded the monster “He’s a human being” and other officers questioned the need for such force – even as Big Floyd himself, struggled just to breathe, used his dying breaths to call out for his mother – even as all that was happening, the monster remained on George Floyd’s throat until the end. The blank stare never wavered. Perry, as he was known in childhood, was dead.

The confusion Perry must have felt as he called out for his mother, the terror he must have felt as his life force was draining away, is truly unimaginable. He was a human being too – just like you and me. Larcenia, the mother whose name he invoked with his dying breaths, joined him in death 2 years later, haunted by the memories of May 25th, 2020.