Fire
in the City
“We
must learn to live together as brothers [and sisters] or perish together as
fools.”
Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Watching
protests erupt around the country for the past five days has been excruciating.
First, because once again Americans are fighting for their right to live free from harm. Black Americans are channeling their broken hearts into rage, and who
can blame them? Promises made, promises broken, has been the pattern for more than
400 years. And secondly, because everyone is shouting, but no one is listening.
The shooting, and killing, and choking, and beating of black people for the
simplest offense, or no offense at all, simply cannot be tolerated, and as
former President Obama said yesterday, cannot become normal. George Floyd was
killed because he paid for something with a counterfeit $20-bill. I would guess
that he didn’t even know it was counterfeit. I wouldn’t have. Would you?
Of
course, violence isn’t the answer, even though it’s understandable. Unleashed rage
leads to unrestrained violence. The reason to refrain from it, is that violence
changes the focus—away from the gross injustice and horror of another black man
being murdered on the streets of this country—to the destructive behavior of
the protesters. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “In spite of temporary
victories, violence never brings permanent peace.” Unfortunately, now the
news is not so much about justice for Floyd’s murder as it is about the looting
and burning by the protesters.
While
it makes me sad to see the crush of people once again screaming out their
broken-hearted anger and frustration, I am equally concerned that they will contract
the coronavirus and spread it among their already decimated population. Heaven is
not smiling on the United States right now. We have a lot to be in pain about.
Here are some words of encouragement from Dr. King: “Human progress is
neither automatic nor inevitable…Every step toward the goal of justice requires
sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertion and passionate concern
of dedicated individuals.” I hope some “human progress toward justice”
comes from all this chaos.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
1 comment:
Oh this breaks my heart. To hear of Mr. Floyd's pleas for air, to see this heinous act on video is so awful. It is also awful to feel that I cannot go protest today here in Birmingham because of the virus. Birmingham is my city and knows all too well about racial hatred. We are falling apart, it is a sad time in all ways. I think there can be healing from this awful virus and these awful crimes; but we have so much to mourn.
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