An Opportunity Lost
It was an opportunity to unite the nation to do something positive, to bring people together to fight racial discrimination and injustice in the policy and criminal justice system. And it's been lost.
In February, Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by Gregory and Travis McMichael and a local district attorney said there was not sufficient evidence to charge those two with a crime. A tragedy and a total disgrace. Thankfully, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in and the two men have been charged.
Last week, George Floyd was killed by a police officer who refused to take his knee of Mr. Floyd's neck for an extended period of time and while ignoring Mr. Floyd's pleas that he could not breathe. Another tragedy and total disgrace.
These two cases point out that, sadly, there still remains injustice towards black Americans in the police and the justice system.
These two cases could have united Americans to come together to fight this, to demand change, to shine the light on these hideous practices, and to exorcise our system of the kinds of people who let this happen.
When Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, America was being asked to support the idea that black Americans for whom thousands of Americans died to ensure they were free, who went to war to defend freedom for everyone of all colors, deserved the right to take the field and participate in events with white Americans. And the majority of Americans recognized it was right to do so it led to blacks being accepted in sports and starting a cultural revolution.
Oliver Brown asked that America allow his daughter to attend the same school and get the same educational opportunities as white children. It led to a Supreme Court decision abolishing segregation and President Eisenhower sending in the National Guard later to enforce that decision in later years when Arkansas tried to prevent it. And the majority of Americans recognized it was right to do so and supported this.
Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands marched to ask America to provide equal rights for all people and we saw Congress pass a Civil Rights Act, and laws to ensure Federal oversight of Southern elections where abuses had taken place for decades, and other laws that advanced the cause of people of color and broke down the last overt examples of segregation. And the majority of Americans recognized it was right and supported this.
With the tragic deaths of the two black men mentioned earlier, we had an opportunity to bring Americans together to further the cause of justice and equality. But that opportunity is lost.
What are we being asked to support?
We are being asked to support "protests" that involve destroying black owned businesses, burning down low income housing, looting indiscriminately, shooting people of color, and attacking police.
We are being asked to condemn government officials who try to prevent all of those things from happening, and to condemn police who try to defend themselves from "protesters" with guns, knives, bricks, water bottles filled with frozen water or concrete, and metal bars.
We are being asked to support defunding those same police as a means of "reforming" the system.
Instead of promoting a cause or idea that takes advantage of the overwhelming outrage across America at what happened to Mr. Arbery and Mr. Floyd, the country is being torn apart by the actions that have arisen from these tragedies and promoting ideas that cause harm and cannot unite.
That is a tragedy that compounds the earlier tragedies. In addition to the two lives lost - Mr. Arbery and Mr. Floyd - in addition to the damage done to black communities and families by these "protests," more black lives will be lost in the future because we missed an opportunity to promote true reform and channel the unified outrage behind it.
In February, Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by Gregory and Travis McMichael and a local district attorney said there was not sufficient evidence to charge those two with a crime. A tragedy and a total disgrace. Thankfully, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in and the two men have been charged.
Last week, George Floyd was killed by a police officer who refused to take his knee of Mr. Floyd's neck for an extended period of time and while ignoring Mr. Floyd's pleas that he could not breathe. Another tragedy and total disgrace.
These two cases point out that, sadly, there still remains injustice towards black Americans in the police and the justice system.
These two cases could have united Americans to come together to fight this, to demand change, to shine the light on these hideous practices, and to exorcise our system of the kinds of people who let this happen.
When Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, America was being asked to support the idea that black Americans for whom thousands of Americans died to ensure they were free, who went to war to defend freedom for everyone of all colors, deserved the right to take the field and participate in events with white Americans. And the majority of Americans recognized it was right to do so it led to blacks being accepted in sports and starting a cultural revolution.
Oliver Brown asked that America allow his daughter to attend the same school and get the same educational opportunities as white children. It led to a Supreme Court decision abolishing segregation and President Eisenhower sending in the National Guard later to enforce that decision in later years when Arkansas tried to prevent it. And the majority of Americans recognized it was right to do so and supported this.
Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands marched to ask America to provide equal rights for all people and we saw Congress pass a Civil Rights Act, and laws to ensure Federal oversight of Southern elections where abuses had taken place for decades, and other laws that advanced the cause of people of color and broke down the last overt examples of segregation. And the majority of Americans recognized it was right and supported this.
With the tragic deaths of the two black men mentioned earlier, we had an opportunity to bring Americans together to further the cause of justice and equality. But that opportunity is lost.
What are we being asked to support?
We are being asked to support "protests" that involve destroying black owned businesses, burning down low income housing, looting indiscriminately, shooting people of color, and attacking police.
We are being asked to condemn government officials who try to prevent all of those things from happening, and to condemn police who try to defend themselves from "protesters" with guns, knives, bricks, water bottles filled with frozen water or concrete, and metal bars.
We are being asked to support defunding those same police as a means of "reforming" the system.
Instead of promoting a cause or idea that takes advantage of the overwhelming outrage across America at what happened to Mr. Arbery and Mr. Floyd, the country is being torn apart by the actions that have arisen from these tragedies and promoting ideas that cause harm and cannot unite.
That is a tragedy that compounds the earlier tragedies. In addition to the two lives lost - Mr. Arbery and Mr. Floyd - in addition to the damage done to black communities and families by these "protests," more black lives will be lost in the future because we missed an opportunity to promote true reform and channel the unified outrage behind it.
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