Minneapolis Burning

When I first saw the video of the murder of George Floyd, I knew things were going to get bad. Already dealing with a strained relationship between the police and the black community, here we have a white cop slowly suffocating a handcuffed black man on a crowded city street. It didn't long for the video to make it's rounds through the media and it immediately got everyone's attention.

Unlike many of the police-involved deaths in the past, there was not much debate on this one. Everyone, black and white, was saying the same thing: this was a straight-up murder. When a cop has a hand-cuffed guy on the ground and basically kneels on his carotid artery for several minutes, what else can you call it? This guy isn't a cop, he's a thug with a badge....

A few days later, the cop was arrested on third-degree murder charges. Many think that this is too light of charge. And I believe they have a valid point. Maybe second-degree murder might have been more appropriate, I dunno? But when legal teams come up with charges, especially in these high-profile cases, they are looking for a charge to will most likely hold up in court.

Commence the rage.....

Over the past few of nights, Minneapolis (the city where the Floyd murder took place), has taken a brutal beating at the hands of rioters (By the way, there is a big difference between protesters and rioters). Businesses, that were already reeling from the COVID shutdown, were looted and burned. The police building where the arrested officer was stationed was overtaken and burned.

In Atlanta, police cars were set on fire and the CNN headquarters was vandalized.

In Washington DC, an angry crowd threw bricks and bottles at Secret Service agents as they attempted to gain access to the White House.

A Philadelphia bike officer was ran over by a car during a protest.

Countless police vehicles were torched in New Year city while officers took a barrage of bricks and bottles. This is New York, people! These were the heroes of 9/11! And now we're throwing bricks at them? It's heartbreaking to see this....

I can understand the outrage over Mr. Floyd's senseless murder. But what is accomplished by burning down your own neighborhood? Yes, you are certainly getting people's attention. However, it's for all of the wrong reasons. The death of George Floyd is now being overshadowed by the lawlessness and destruction. What kind of message are you sending to America? If you're burning down buildings and throwing bricks at police, you're not a protester anymore, you're a domestic terrorist!

The problems lie deeper than anyone wants to talk about. Instead, we are led to believe that police departments consist mostly of rogue cops who systematically hunt and prey on black men. While one can certainly make the argument that this situation exists to some degree, the overwhelming majority of cops are decent people who put their lives on the line for use everyday.

So what do we do to fix the problem?

First off, we need the good cops to call out the bad cops. Yeah, I've heard about the thin blue line and all of that stuff. But when one of your fellow officers is literally killing a guy in front of you, you don't just stand there and watch him. You take action and make him stop!

And we need real black leaders, and not race hustlers, to step up and speak out about the absurdity of the random lawlessness following these incidents. And we need these same leaders to work directly with high-ranking police and community officials to rebuild these strained relationships. If you have a discussion with a room full of people who you agree with, the status-quo will likely be the result. However, if you have a conversation with someone you disagree with, you'll have a better chance of achieving progress.

And here's something that media likes to avoid: While these controversial police incidents only seem to only be happening in black communities, the statistics would prove otherwise. There are plenty of white deaths at the hands of police as well. In fact, there is actually quite a few more*. The media seem to be very selective on the stories that they run in the situations. They pit us against each other because they know it will inevitably get a reaction and thus boost ratings. Just something to think about...

We should all be equally outraged when people of any color are senselessly killed at the hands of the police. This is the 21st century, the division and hate need to stop. Let's ramp up the conversations and stop trying to destroy each other. I'm betting that George Floyd would agree....

kw

* https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/