These last couple months have been emotionally charged. Stories of destruction pepper spray the airwaves as community leaders grapple with approaching anger, trying to understand anger and trying to direct that anger toward better outcomes and perhaps eventual systematic change.
Change is slow.
That is supremely evident in today's America. How many times are we to witness such hate? George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. It could be argued a group of police officers. No one in this scene had control - either of their emotions or anything else other the breath Mr. Floyd could or could not take. The officers felt a need to subdue a man. I do not know why it got to this point. I'm guessing this will eventually come out, but they subdued this man to the point of rendering him unconscious.
And they didn't even relent then.
"I can't breathe," should have been enough the first time to alter the restraining technique, but let's just say in the heat of the moment that wasn't heard or believed. Certainly one of the 16 times was heard? It's pretty clear on the video that he was audible. And when he fell silent? A check on him seemed appropriate at this time. To serve and protect right?
This was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was in America.
George Floyd was an American. This was not an action in a war with an enemy seeking to kill you.
Under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, an American officer sworn to defend and protect, George Floyd died. The laws of this country are complex in that they seek to protect the citizens. They failed here. And it's not the only time it has failed. Countless atrocities have happened because overzealous individuals think 'their right' is THE right.
This isn't just a cops thing, it's a systematic problem with how we haven't dealt with or understood race, poverty or culture. Or privilege.
Change is slow.
That is supremely evident in today's America. How many times are we to witness such hate? George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. It could be argued a group of police officers. No one in this scene had control - either of their emotions or anything else other the breath Mr. Floyd could or could not take. The officers felt a need to subdue a man. I do not know why it got to this point. I'm guessing this will eventually come out, but they subdued this man to the point of rendering him unconscious.
And they didn't even relent then.
"I can't breathe," should have been enough the first time to alter the restraining technique, but let's just say in the heat of the moment that wasn't heard or believed. Certainly one of the 16 times was heard? It's pretty clear on the video that he was audible. And when he fell silent? A check on him seemed appropriate at this time. To serve and protect right?
This was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was in America.
George Floyd was an American. This was not an action in a war with an enemy seeking to kill you.
Under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, an American officer sworn to defend and protect, George Floyd died. The laws of this country are complex in that they seek to protect the citizens. They failed here. And it's not the only time it has failed. Countless atrocities have happened because overzealous individuals think 'their right' is THE right.
This isn't just a cops thing, it's a systematic problem with how we haven't dealt with or understood race, poverty or culture. Or privilege.
Since the day of the callousness of those four officers, this country has exploded in anger. Protests have formed in virtually every major city and they all are meant to make a strong point -- Black Lives Matter.
This slogan isn't meant to demean any other life, but to poignantly show the racial injustice that, unfortunately, still exists.
And it is truly meant to shine a bright light on the deplorable systemic and cultural racism we exist in today.
Do black men commit crimes? Some sure do. So do white men. Latino men. Asian men and so on. People commit crimes. But there has been a vastly different way those perpetrators have been dealt with over the years.
So the protests have exploded out of anger. But when a protest erupts into violence the dynamic changes. Safety and calm become the goal and the points get lost. Or do they?
This slogan isn't meant to demean any other life, but to poignantly show the racial injustice that, unfortunately, still exists.
And it is truly meant to shine a bright light on the deplorable systemic and cultural racism we exist in today.
Do black men commit crimes? Some sure do. So do white men. Latino men. Asian men and so on. People commit crimes. But there has been a vastly different way those perpetrators have been dealt with over the years.
So the protests have exploded out of anger. But when a protest erupts into violence the dynamic changes. Safety and calm become the goal and the points get lost. Or do they?
What we truly need is complete cultural change. It is not enough to have one city deal with its racial tensions and form a solution (don't get me wrong that is a good start). This country needs the identity of inclusiveness that the founding fathers wrote down even if many of they didn't truly understand the power of those words.
We are still, apparently, far from this goal.
Truth is Black Lives Matter. The reason we're hearing this now is because we have not really wholeheartedly listened to it as a nation before. Yes "All lives matter" but this mantra only serves to make us feel better.
We see horrific poverty in this world and yet we don't care. We don't change the culture that led to such poverty, in fact we throw money at the already rich.
We are still, apparently, far from this goal.
Truth is Black Lives Matter. The reason we're hearing this now is because we have not really wholeheartedly listened to it as a nation before. Yes "All lives matter" but this mantra only serves to make us feel better.
We see horrific poverty in this world and yet we don't care. We don't change the culture that led to such poverty, in fact we throw money at the already rich.
Ideological change cannot occur with any kind of stereotyping. We cannot put entire blame on a group of people. Individuals act - even in mob mentality - each person acts on their own. So too among the police. Somewhere change within a system needs to occur, but we need to be careful that change isn't so poorly thought out that leads to even more problems.
If we simply just keep directing our anger at a group and not see the whole picture we're doomed to fail again and again. I believe there needs to be some incredible time spent with how law enforcement and community function together. I have known more truly good cops than I have ones I don't trust. Those are the people to start this dialogue and those are the people who are. We see it in dozens of photographs from protests in which police show they understand. They are not the officer who killed George Floyd.
Demonstrations are important and attention isn't really obtained without showing what you're willing to do in the name of justice.
Last week I met a few dozen very nice people who were angry at the events around the country and this slow progress toward fixing systematic inequities. They were white people, black people, people of mixed races... people! They got together in the small city of Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania to demonstrate their fear and horror over the current time we're living in. This was not just a protest against the brutal deaths of young black men across this country, but it was also a show of community that "Meadville is better than that!"
Maybe it is from small communities we can lead us out of this darkness where we can say "All Lives Matter," because we finally demonstrate, through our actions the "Black Lives Matter."
Editor's Note: I had more thoughts after posting this. It seems to me that defunding police is never going to be an answer(maybe because I don't understand what is actually being asked in doing so), however perhaps the idea of community involvement, more police from neighborhoods who are also walking beat cops, more block party and community watch groups developed, more funding for community clean-up and maintenance, more small businesses, more infrastructure throughout all instead of targeting one here or there and then forgetting five years later. A solution can't be made from the top, it needs to come from the playing field, but have the support from the top. Great coaches put faith in the talents of their players to take what they've learned together to apply on the field. The best teams have players who do their job and their job requires them to think and react to make better decisions for the whole team. Success can only achieved from this means of working together.
If we simply just keep directing our anger at a group and not see the whole picture we're doomed to fail again and again. I believe there needs to be some incredible time spent with how law enforcement and community function together. I have known more truly good cops than I have ones I don't trust. Those are the people to start this dialogue and those are the people who are. We see it in dozens of photographs from protests in which police show they understand. They are not the officer who killed George Floyd.
Demonstrations are important and attention isn't really obtained without showing what you're willing to do in the name of justice.
Last week I met a few dozen very nice people who were angry at the events around the country and this slow progress toward fixing systematic inequities. They were white people, black people, people of mixed races... people! They got together in the small city of Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania to demonstrate their fear and horror over the current time we're living in. This was not just a protest against the brutal deaths of young black men across this country, but it was also a show of community that "Meadville is better than that!"
Maybe it is from small communities we can lead us out of this darkness where we can say "All Lives Matter," because we finally demonstrate, through our actions the "Black Lives Matter."
Editor's Note: I had more thoughts after posting this. It seems to me that defunding police is never going to be an answer(maybe because I don't understand what is actually being asked in doing so), however perhaps the idea of community involvement, more police from neighborhoods who are also walking beat cops, more block party and community watch groups developed, more funding for community clean-up and maintenance, more small businesses, more infrastructure throughout all instead of targeting one here or there and then forgetting five years later. A solution can't be made from the top, it needs to come from the playing field, but have the support from the top. Great coaches put faith in the talents of their players to take what they've learned together to apply on the field. The best teams have players who do their job and their job requires them to think and react to make better decisions for the whole team. Success can only achieved from this means of working together.