George Floyd

Most Minnesotans, including many in law enforcement, were outraged by what happened to George Floyd. How anyone can look at that video (and far too many incidents before it) and not agree that some serious changes need to be made, is beyond me. We need to end institutional racism and police brutality. Yes, we also needed to stop the burning and looting and arrest the perpetrators and provide security to our communities. How anyone can look at the burning cars and buildings, the residents now without grocery stores and pharmacies, the groups of people looting stores, the business owners with their lives’ work destroyed, and think that is somehow justified or that is will somehow help, is similarly beyond me. More than anything we need to learn to do the hard work of listening to each other and working within our systems to make them better, as they offer the best opportunity in human history for peace, prosperity, and the freedom to pursue our individually chosen dreams.

I have friends that are in law enforcement, and I know we expect a great deal from them, and that they have an extremely difficult job. But one of the things we expect from them is to have thick skin, a keen sense of judgement, and to treat people fairly. To protect and to serve. No humans should be at risk of being killed any time they are pulled over by the police, as long as they don’t present a threat to the lives of the police officer. George Floyd deserved better, and we deserve better.

And I agree that those of us who are Caucasian need to understand the reality that our neighbors who happen to be of African descent have to deal with, and to listen to them and understand their reality. The term “privilege” has become polarizing, but the reality is we do have privileges that they don’t. To me, Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean that other lives don’t matter, or that “blue” lives don’t matter. It means (and I can’t believe we need to even say this, but we do) that people of color deserve to have their lives valued in the same manner as all other humans. And in our society, they too often are not. We can’t ignore that.

No citizen should feel they are justified in taking the law into their own hands, as judge, jury and executioner, whether they are in a neighborhood watch group, are a pissed-off young anti-fascist who wants to tear down the system, or is a genuinely harmed citizen who is understandably angry when looking at current events. It is dangerously wrong to think that violent protests (as opposed to peaceful protests) are justified. What the riots have created is yet another tragedy, and we’re all lucky that more people weren’t hurt.

For all of us, regardless of how angry or scared or helpless we feel, we have to learn to truly work together. To live with, respect, and work within the system we have, peacefully, even when faced with ugliness and injustice. A key aspect of the brilliance of Martin Luther King Jr. was that he stayed true to American ideals and claimed the moral high ground. Former President Obama had a good post today on how to work within the system, and what we can do to make things better: https://medium.com/@BarackObama/how-to-make-this-moment-the-turning-point-for-real-change-9fa209806067. I don’t agree with everything in his “advocacy toolkit,” because I don’t think we should make it impossible for good cops to do their jobs. But I agree with the spirit, and the call to be constrictive not destructive. We have laws, court systems, elections, constitutional protections, and public servants that are far from perfect. But they are also the best chance we have of living together in peace. They give us voices, and the means to make changes. We have to do the hard work of making those changes.