The funeral for African American George Floyd, whose death in police custody caused global outrage, heard impassioned pleas for racial justice and a heartfelt message from Republican President Donald Trump's Democratic opponent in the November presidential election, Joe Biden.
"You're so brave. Daddy's looking down, he's so proud of you. I know you miss that bear hug, riding on his shoulders so you could touch the sky,” Biden said in a video message recorded at his residence.
“The countless hours he spent playing any game you wanted, because your smile, your laugh, your love, is the only thing that mattered at the moment,” he added.
Biden said that Floyd’s daughter shouldn't have to ask the questions that too many black children have to ask for generations – "why is daddy gone?
“Why, in this nation, do black Americans wake up knowing they can lose their life just for living their life?” Biden asked, adding that the death of George Floyd was more than personal for the family as it had turned into a national movement for justice.
“Now is the time for racial justice. That's the answer we must give to our children when they ask, 'Why?'” Biden said.
“Because when there's justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America. And then, as you said, Gianna, your daddy will have changed the world,” he said.
The Democratic politician was himself recently accused of taking black American votes for granted when he said African Americans "ain't black" if they even considered voting for Trump.
Biden has sharply criticised Trump, accusing him of making “despicable” speculative remarks about Floyd.
Several speakers in the church in Houston, Texas, lined up to remember a man whose “crime was that he was born black,” the BBC reported.
Floyd died in Minneapolis last month as a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, his final moments filmed on phones.
Four police officers involved have been sacked and charged over his death.
His coffin was taken to the Houston Memorial Gardens where he was buried beside his mother.
(With inputs from IANS.)
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