WARING: This is my totally biased opinion on the reaction that some parents are having to what I, as a parent and decent human being opposed to racism and trying to raise other decent human beings, think was an appropriate gesture on behalf of Nickelodeon. OK, now that you've been warned that I am in no way impartial. Nickelodeon took a stand on Monday, June 1, against racial injustice in the US. The channel took a stand against the death of George Floyd while in the custody of former police officer Derek Chauvin, by going dark and airing 8 minutes and 46 seconds of breathing with the words “I CAN’T BREATHE” across a black background. Nickelodeon chose those words because they were some of the last words that Floyd was heard to say on May 25 as Chauvin’s knee was pressed into his throat for 8 minutes and 45 seconds. When Chauvin finally removed his knee, Floyd was no longer alive.
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The protests that have followed the death of George Floyd have flooded the streets of the US and countries throughout the world. Brands and companies like Nickelodeon have had to decide how to address the issue publicly because it’s not really a topic any of us can afford to ignore at the moment. Nickelodeon took a stand, but whenever you take a stand, someone is going to get pissed. So, it should come as no surprise that although Nickelodeon has received plenty of praise for addressing the matter in a thoughtful way and with its audience of children in mind, that there are parents clutching their pearls and freaking out. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Nickelodeon made the decision to go off the air for a specific amount of time.
On Monday, Nickelodeon posted a message on its Instagram account informing followers that the channel would be going off the air for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. That's how long former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd's neck on May 25, while three other officers watched. Floyd died and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office autopsy report concluded that the cause of death was "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."
When 6 p.m. rolled around Nickelodeon aired 8 minutes and 45 seconds of the sound of breathing.
The video Nickelodeon posted is basically 8 minutes and 45 seconds of breathing sounds with the words “I CAN’T BREATHE” written in white across a black background. Those are some of the last words that Floyd was heard to say before he died. The video also included call-to-action text at the bottom of the screen that said, “Join @colorofchange and countless others to call on public officials across the country to take real action.” There was also another text box that said, “Text DEMANDS to 55156.”
Nickelodeon wasn’t the only network to air the video.
The video was aired by several ViacomCBS TV networks as well, but that it was aired on a network dedicated to children really struck a chord with many. Some were incredibly proud that a network they grew up watching as children wasn’t “afraid to side publicly” with what protesters are demanding.
Not everyone was happy with Nickelodeon, though.
Some thought that a children’s network was not the appropriate channel to air a video that supposedly scared many kids. Did it, though? Or is it a whole lot of uproar from adults who are angry that they now have to explain to the children in their lives that the world is racist and that black people are killed regularly by police officers for no good reason?
Here’s a message from a very angry grandmother.
This grandmother is “stunned” by Nickelodeon’s “stunt” and is cancelling them. OK, that is her choice. Hopefully, she is even more stunned that black people are getting killed by police officers and is also doing something to cancel that behavior. Nickelodeon did not show anything graphic to children. It simply acknowledged what is going on in this country. Surely, we can all agree that parents need to take the time to talk to their kids about what is happening and if they haven’t, WHY THE HECK NOT?! No, they are not too young to know. We tell them about "stranger danger," which isn't even really as big of a danger as we make it out to be, but we won't tell them about racism and the consequences of it? SIGH.
Here’s another person who thinks Nickelodeon went off the deep end.
She thinks, “This is CREEPY AF!” and equates it with #ChildAbuse. Wow, she needs to get over herself! Was she this vocal and upset when 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed in Cleveland by a police officer because he was holding a toy gun while being black? 'Cause he was a child and murder is abuse. What Nickelodeon did was give you an opportunity to bring up topics with children that black parents for sure have had to discuss with their kids in order to try to keep them alive.
Nickelodeon has not backed down and it shouldn't.
This is exactly what the channel should do. “Unfortunately, some kids live in fear every day. It’s our job to use our platform to make sure their voices are heard and their stories are told,” Nickelodeon responded to some complaints. Nickelodeon is right and if children who saw the breathing commercial are asking questions, then GOOD!
