Thinking race relations will heal is folly
“Anybody know what this place is? This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg. Fifty thousand men died right here, fightin’ the same fight that we’re still fightin’ amongst ourselves today. Listen to their souls, men. ‘I killed my brother with malice in my heart.’ ‘Hatred destroyed my family.’ You listen and you take a lesson from the dead. If we don’t come together right now, then we, too, will be destroyed …” — Denzel Washington as Coach Boone in “Remember The Titans”
Sorry, Coach Boone. While your words are timeless and true, it’s safe to say that America is not “coming together.” In fact, given that marauders are gleefully setting cities ablaze, it’s just the opposite. Will our republic be destroyed? No, as this too shall pass. Bleak as it now seems, America will not succumb to what amounts to a small, but very violent, band of criminals engaging in coordinated, and highly orchestrated, nationwide attacks.
How sad that George Floyd, the original victim, has suffered another devastating blow. First, he lost his life at the hands of the Minneapolis police. And now, he lost his legacy. Instead of Mr. Floyd’s death shining light on the need for better policing, such as jettisoning bad apples before such incidents occur , the only thing people will remember are criminals looting stores and setting fires to predominantly black neighborhoods. For that, Mr. Floyd, we are very sorry. Rest in peace.
The irony of ironies is that, for the first time in a long while, Americans of all colors were unified — actually standing together — in opposing what happened to Mr. Floyd. Unlike incidents such as the Trayvon Martin case and Ferguson, where people squared off against one another, we were all in agreement that the officers in question should face consequences, from firings to arrests. We were on the same page that the cops were wrong, that better police training was needed, that bad cops should be rooted out, and that goodol’-boy police departments should not brush the shoddy records of subpar officers under the rug. And yes, we saw eye-to-eye that justice should be served.
Yet the looting and rioting started after the officer was arrested. Why? Far worse police actions have occurred that didn’t generate a fraction of this response. Makes one wonder about the ulterior motives of shadowy, and possibly paid, professional agitators.
As we have painfully seen, from Philadelphia to Scottsdale to Minneapolis, police were often nowhere to be found — a non-action that fostered unchecked looting and violence.
We had Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee’s statement: “The National Guard is on standby to assist the Seattle Police Department, as requested by (Seattle) Mayor Durkan … They will be unarmed and assist with infrastructure protection and crowd movement.”
Help me out on this one. You activate the National Guard, and expect them to control crowds and protect property — yet announce to violent rioters that Guardsmen won’t carry weapons? That would be like invading Baghdad without tanks, planes and guns, but expecting to win based on soldiers’ charming personalities. Such policies don’t work, but worse, they endanger the lives of every Guardsman. The sheer lunacy shows that many leaders continue to genuflect at the altar of political correctness.
Staying with Seattle, we have Mayor Jenny Durkan claiming that the riots were incited by … white people. Her words: “I want to acknowledge that much of the violence and destruction, both here in Seattle and across the country, has been instigated and perpetuated by white men … these individuals experience the height of privilege and are co-opting peaceful demonstrations that were organized by and meant to center people of color, particularly black Americans.”
Wow. She’s close to the record for saying the most wrong things in two sentences.
Are there white people participating in some of the riots? Yes — both men and women. But so what? Are they “more guilty” for doing the exact same things as looters of a different color? Put another way, is she giving a free pass to “non-privileged” rioters of color? Talk about a racist mindset! Let’s be honest: The vast majority of rioters and looters are not white — and everyone knows it. But again, so what? They are all criminals, and should be arrested and prosecuted — not because of skin pigment, but because they are breaking the law.
It’s truly amazing how people like the mayor can attain such positions despite being so obtuse. To think that blaming white people — which only inflames explosive racial tensions — will somehow bring peace and ingratiate herself to the black community is not just the ultimate in naivete, but it perpetuates the crisis.