A clip went viral last week of Keke Palmer at the Los Angeles protests. As she faced the National Guard, she requested that they join in the march. They declined. Instead, they took a knee with Palmer and those that were marching with her. They said that they needed to guard their post.
In a recent op-ed posted to Variety, Keke Palmer details her experience at the Los Angeles protests and explains the viral clip. "At one point, I spoke with National Guardsmen who were preventing us from marching past a certain point and challenged them to march with us," she wrote. "They didn’t march with us, and while one offered to for a short stretch, he also said he had to “protect the businesses” and buildings in the area."
She said that at that point, she wasn't considered the buildings but the innocent lives lost to racial discrimination and police brutality. And if any of these officers did decide to march with her, it would make a much bigger statement about the systemic oppression Black Americans face regularly.
"In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about who may or may not touch a building; I was thinking about how we’re out here, fighting for a call to protect human lives. And the government is telling you to protect a building? That doesn’t add up to me, and I wanted to challenge them with the question, “How does that add up to you?”
While a few guardsmen knelt, for me that isn’t enough. Kneeling has become a mockery of sorts. Kneeling on George Floyd’s neck is what killed him. Now we see police officers kneeling and then, moments later, attacking peaceful protesters. At this point, the kneeling has no meaning."
You could read her whole piece here.