George Floyd, RIP
A week ago, George Floyd was strangled when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Mr. Floyd was handcuffed and on the ground. All of this was caught on video and broadcast. He was accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Four days later, the officer was charged with 3rd degree murder. Three other officers who did nothing to stop the strangulation were fired.
Protests began in Minneapolis and have spread nation-, then world-wide. At first the protests were calm. Now they have devolved into riots with looting. Our local Container Store, Krispy Kreme Donut shop, and Panda Express at Millenia were damaged Sunday night. Police are overreacting; the National Guard has been called up; Trump told governors and mayors to stop the protests, or he will bring in the military. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the government needs to dominate the “battle space”. Already most of the police forces have military-grade weapons.
And I do not know what to do. In some cities, white women have formed protective lines between black protesters and the police. Is that how I should break my social distancing? We finally received our stimulus check and haven’t decided what charity to donate it to. Give it to the food bank, as we originally planned? Our minister mentioned donating bail money for arrested protestors. Which would help our nation more?
More than 100,000 Americans have died from coronavirus. 40,000,000 Americans are unemployed. Now we have riots with threats of, in essence, martial law. Where are our leaders? Who will lead us out of this chaos? Former Vice-president Joe Biden just gave a powerful speech in Philadelphia, announcing some specific laws that Congress should pass immediately to combat police brutality. He also called on all Americans to confront the systemic racism in our country. That meshes with Rev. Amy’s sermon last Sunday that racism cannot be solved by just Black and Brown Americans. If it could, it would have already happened. We Whites must start pulling our weight rather than holding our sisters and brothers back.
Perhaps donating to the Biden for President campaign should be what we should spend our money on.
Protests began in Minneapolis and have spread nation-, then world-wide. At first the protests were calm. Now they have devolved into riots with looting. Our local Container Store, Krispy Kreme Donut shop, and Panda Express at Millenia were damaged Sunday night. Police are overreacting; the National Guard has been called up; Trump told governors and mayors to stop the protests, or he will bring in the military. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the government needs to dominate the “battle space”. Already most of the police forces have military-grade weapons.
And I do not know what to do. In some cities, white women have formed protective lines between black protesters and the police. Is that how I should break my social distancing? We finally received our stimulus check and haven’t decided what charity to donate it to. Give it to the food bank, as we originally planned? Our minister mentioned donating bail money for arrested protestors. Which would help our nation more?
More than 100,000 Americans have died from coronavirus. 40,000,000 Americans are unemployed. Now we have riots with threats of, in essence, martial law. Where are our leaders? Who will lead us out of this chaos? Former Vice-president Joe Biden just gave a powerful speech in Philadelphia, announcing some specific laws that Congress should pass immediately to combat police brutality. He also called on all Americans to confront the systemic racism in our country. That meshes with Rev. Amy’s sermon last Sunday that racism cannot be solved by just Black and Brown Americans. If it could, it would have already happened. We Whites must start pulling our weight rather than holding our sisters and brothers back.
Perhaps donating to the Biden for President campaign should be what we should spend our money on.
Comments
Post a Comment