PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The uncle of George Floyd is speaking on issues of racism, protests, and police-community relations as he is urging everyone to vote this November.
"All cops aren't bad. All black people ain't bad. All white people aren't bad. All blue people aren't bad. But, there are a certain amount of people that are running on a certain way of thinking and honestly ma'am, the way they're thinking is wrong," Selwyn Jones told FOX43's Jamie Bittner.
Jones described his nephew, George Floyd, as a 'fun-loving' person who always had a smile on his face.
"I watched the video one time. The first morning I saw it. And, you see him fight, struggle, beg, plea, and die because of power and control," he said.
Floyd's death was recorded for nearly 8 minutes in Minneapolis as an officer kneeled on his neck.
"I have just convinced myself in my brain, when the ghost was leaving his body, when he said 'mama,' I honestly think he saw my sister. She had her hands out and said come on to me child, come on," he said.
Jones has since traveled across the country speaking, with his journey even linking him to this region. Officials in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania wrote a letter to Jones' hometown of Gettysburg, South Dakota as Jones fought to rid the confederate flag from a police patch in that area.
"Granted my nephew lost his life. I honestly think he might have been a sacrificial lamb so the Lord could say, hey man, you know what: this is the time. This is the date. This is the place. This is the person that I chose to open this whole world up to see that this is wrong," he said.
Jones acknowledges police have a job of chaos, but also one of choices. When asked what message he would send to officers, he said "be human beings. Everybody wants to go home."
"They just have to assess the situation and make a split second decision. And, it doesn't have to be to kill," he said.
As for protests that have turned violent and caused looting in cities such as Portland, Jones has a message for the people who have caused destruction.
"Stop. We have got our point across. We have spoken, to have some kind of action done for these particular situations. So, let's stop. Let's be calm. Let's come back to reality. Because, destroying your things that you built, destroying your neighborhoods, destroying your towns, how are you going to get that back once it's gone?" he said.
Jones pointed to other issues such as schooling, housing, and medical care, telling FOX43 "I reckon the racism that we see isn't the biggest problem. It's the racism that we don't see that's a problem."
"We need to establish a system that works. And, I'm not sure if anybody's system will work. But, something's got to be better than what we're given," he said.
Jones added no one is perfect. However, he said everyone can live together without hate.
"Please vote. Please vote. If you don't vote, you don't have anything to say. If you vote, you have something to say. Make a choice," he said.