All kids dream about what they will be as grown-ups. While some have unrealistic plans like becoming a princess, some actually dedicate their lives to pursuing their childhood dreams and becoming scientists, astronauts, teachers—you name it. Sadly, that’s not the case for everyone.

The late George Floyd’s second-grade teacher Waynel Sexton recently shared an essay written by him, revealing he aspired to become a Supreme Court justice. “I taught George Perry Floyd in second grade. He was a quiet student and a good boy. He wrote of becoming a Supreme Court judge. How could his dream have turned into the nightmare of being murdered by a police officer? It just breaks my heart,” she wrote in a Facebook post and posted a photo of the essay.

George Floyd’s 2nd-grade teacher Waynel Sexton recently shared an essay he wrote 38 years ago called “Future Famous American”

Waynel Sexton, George Floyd’s second grade teacher, recently shared his essay he wrote 38 years ago when he was in 2nd grade. In the essay, George Floyd, who was then called Perry by his parents, teachers, and friends, revealed he wanted to bring justice to the world and aspired to become a Supreme Court judge. “Well, one of my favorite memories of Perry involves his report for Black History Month. Each day in the month of February, we studied a different famous Black American, and as a culmination to that study, I posed the question to my students: How will you impact the future? What will you do to make a difference? So in response, each student wrote a story or an essay called ‘Future Famous Americans’ and described their aspirations,” Mrs. Sexton said.

In the essay, he revealed an ambition to become a Supreme Court justice when he grew up

“When I grow up, I want to be a Supreme Court judge. When people say, ‘Your Honor, he did rob the bank,’ I will say, ‘Be seated.’ And if he doesn’t, I will tell the guard to take him out. Then I will beat my hammer on the desk. Then [everybody] will be quiet,” wrote Floyd in his essay shared by Ms. Sexton, who currently works as Assistant Professor at University of Texas Health Science Center. Mrs. Sexton explained she kept this essay along with many other students’ work. “Each year, my class would do 2 or 3 big, major projects and I always kept one of those projects. And often it was this Black history project because I always asked the boys and girls what they wanted to be when they grew up. This was often the project I kept. So I don’t only have Perry’s work. I taught at Douglass for 24 years, and so I have hundreds of papers.”

Even though his wish to become a judge never came true, many say he will go down in history “as a man who changed America”

Image credits: waynel sexton

Mrs. Sexton shared she felt deep sadness after finding out that the man killed by the police was none other but her shy and quiet student from 38 years ago. “[I felt] a really deep down sadness. I think so many of us have had that response. Just devastation and sadness. Just a really deep down sadness,” she said. “And my heart breaks for his family. And, you know, how could we have known that the little boy, the little 8-year-old who drew this precious, delightful picture about justice and wanting to be a justice, 38 years later would be—his life would be taken? Sadly, I’m sure this isn’t the way that he envisioned being famous or bringing justice. [He was a hopeful kid]. He was quiet, he didn’t talk a lot. He was already that long, lanky little boy. We did a lot of singing and dancing in our classroom, and he enjoyed all of that. He enjoyed his friends. And he was a good boy. He was a delight to have in the classroom,” Mrs. Sexton fondly recalled. While Floyd’s life certainly didn’t unfold as he envisioned, it’s safe to say he will go down in history “as a man who changed America,” as a lot of people on the Internet say.

You can see the interview where Mrs. Sexton shared Floyd’s essay and her memories about him here:

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