Let’s channel anger into positive action

This was bound to be a difficult year, with a deeply divided nation getting ready to vote in another presidential election after four tumultuous years.

Putting an end to this racial strife is going to take changes in policy and the law, and a national dialogue.

Little did any of us know what was in store. Since the start of the year America has endured a presidential impeachment trial, a pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 people in our country alone, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the upending of just about every aspect of life. Any of these things alone would seriously test the mettle of a nation. We’ve been hit with all of them practically simultaneously. Now on top of all that, America is facing some of its worst racial strife of the past half-century.

The images of the past week or so have been devastating. It starts with the shocking video of Minneapolis police holding down George Floyd with a knee on his neck. Floyd said he couldn’t breathe, but officers ignored his pleas and those of bystanders who could see what was happening. Floyd died in what officials have ruled a homicide. It was yet another in the painfully long series of deaths of African American men at the hands of police.

Since then we’ve seen rioters in cities across the country vandalizing and burning buildings and looting businesses, some of which were owned by members of the very minority groups the perpetrators claim to be defending. We’ve seen American armed forces on the streets of our communities, in some cases employing heavy-handed tactics on peaceful protesters. Anger feeds on anger, and violence feeds on violence in what seems like an endless spiral.

There is a better way, and we’re proud that people from our own community have been working to be part of the solution.

Reading’s first major protest in response to the murder of Floyd took place Sunday. It was a march from Reading High School to City Hall, then across the Penn Street Bridge to West Reading and Wyomissing. Organizer Kiya Towles made it clear that she expected the event to be peaceful, and it was.

“I want to be a part of the peace and not the chaos,” she said. “If you want peace, you have to be peaceful.”

Towles is not alone. When one looks beyond the chaos of the last few days, there have been signs of hope and reminders that so many of those angered by Floyd’s death are trying to be productive rather than destructive.

People in riot-ravaged communities have tried to protect buildings from those bent on destroying them. Many have worked to help clean up the damage from protests.

Reading High’s own Lonnie Walker IV was among the San Antonio-area residents cleaning up buildings and shops after riots there last weekend. The member of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs said he was trying to be a force for peace and positivity at this troubling time.

There are other encouraging signs. Many police have decried what happened to Floyd. Some have even taken part in the protests. Reading Police Chief Richard Tornielli spoke to the crowd at Sunday’s march and acknowledged the need for change. Many of his peers across the country have done likewise. Unfortunately it only takes a few bad officers to stain the reputation of the vast majority of police who do the job properly.

Finally putting an end to this problem is going to take policy changes and dialogue in communities across the country along with changes to the law. To grasp the enormity of the challenge, consider that there are about 18,000 police agencies in this country and hundreds of thousands of officers. And that’s just part of the broader justice system responsible for holding police to account. But the work of pursuing change must go on.

When the turmoil in the streets finally fades, let us keep our focus on the memory of that horrifying video and the all too many others that have preceded it. Anger is an appropriate reaction. But let’s channel that anger into something positive rather than causing more needless pain in American communities. We’ve had more than enough anguish already in 2020.