No, I'm not telling you to get out there regardless of any
danger you might perceive. Public protests are not for everyone. But please
don't miss what's happening. Please don't misinterpret what's happening.
Black lives have been in danger, and black people have been disproportionately
targeted and abused, for years. If some of us have not been aware, it's time we
become aware. And some have been doing just that in the aftermath of the murder
of George Floyd, which was videotaped and shared to the world. We've seen it in
that video.
We've even seen it in the crushing responses to some of the
protests. Peaceful protests in the daytime, and then, sometimes, as curfew nears, tear
gas is used before the protesters can even get out of an area, and sometimes
people are trapped on a street or a bridge, or attacked with dangerous rubber
bullets.
Some people see it now. But some others have questions.
Some people say: But there's police overreach against white
people too. Yep, that's true; but in infinitesimally smaller numbers and degree per the size of the
white population. But, also, if we work toward better training and more accountability for our police forces, wouldn't it help people of all races? And wouldn't it also help those many officers who want
to do the right thing and are trapped in systems that are not always honest or
fair?
"But it's not okay to loot and destroy," some
people say. Is it okay to kill people? Honestly, is it?
While it's true that two wrongs don't make a right, let's
get our priorities straight. Life is more important than property.
But who is looting and destroying? Very few compared to the
huge numbers protesting. And in the videos I've been seeing, I've been seeing
white people vandalizing and destroying property. I've heard that some are anarchists and others
white supremacists (think klan or neo-nazi types). Opportunists find a way to further their
malignant goals, and will unfortunately take advantage of such a crisis.
If any of the looting
does comes from black people (and like I said, I haven't seen it), that TV you
see going out a door might be exchanged for rent, or for food for the kiddos, to
keep them alive, or it might come from angry hopelessness, or an effort to get
people to pay attention.
I've heard that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "A
riot is the language of the unheard." He was explaining where it comes from, not
participating. And he was referring to the rioting against police overreach and
brutality of the 60's, not to the riots which were done by white people against
minorities in the 1800's and the first half of the 1900's, where white people
took the lives of many black people and some other minorities.
In some ways, we have come a long way since those white riots
against people of other races. Yet, black lives are still being taken,
just differently. We need so much more growth, because for too long, we have turned
our heads away in denial. We need to grow and make serious changes in our
systems, wherever those systems oppress people.
It's time we listen. It's time we learn. It's time we grow.
