I don't really know what it's like to be Black in America, because I'm not Black. My Black friends have told me about their experiences, such as getting pulled over for a DWB (Driving while Black) on several occasions, among other things. My own town had a problem within its police department several years ago where a number of officers were racially profiling Hispanic people. There are a lot of great police officers, and some terrible ones, but I've never feared a police officer because of the color of my skin. The same can't be said for many other Americans, whose lives matter just as much as mine. Black lives matter. George Floyd's life matters. And now he's dead.
When I watched the video of Floyd's murder, I was infuriated, as was everyone who watched what happened. I'm sure there are a handful of racist people who praised it, but I don't know any of them, and no decent person even tried to justify what happened. It's rare that the President, major celebrities, and mainstream journalists are all on the same page these days, but they were on this point. But that's where the agreements stopped, because protests turned to riots and clashes with police officers, and a whole lot of people then decided to justify a whole lot of things that are not justifiable.
Some on the Right justified the use of violent police tactics on non-violent protesters. Running over protesters when your life is not in danger is not justifiable. Using tear gas, rubber bullets, and similar weapons on protesters who are not rioting or blocking emergency vehicles is not justifiable. The President of the United States taking to Twitter to express that "When the looting starts, the shooting starts" is tone-deaf, and yes, he should absolutely be held to a higher standard than those who are not elected officials. I'm not a fan of him using a Bible as a prop either. His response to the riots could have been earlier and better as well, even though he would be criticized and vilified by many in the media regardless. But Trump still needs to lead, and he needs to stop saying dumb things on Twitter, especially now. A Nobel Peace prize to anyone who can get him to stop tweeting!
Of course, Jerry Falwell, Jr. must have told Trump to hold his beer (which he won't allow students at his University to drink), because the President of Liberty University's tweet of his COVID-19 mask with a photo of his terrible Governor's racist yearbook photo on it is absolutely reprehensible and unjustifiable. I have no problem with him calling out Governor Ralph Northam, but that was not the way to do it. It takes tone-deaf to a whole new level. It's not surprising coming from him though. I'm a Christian, but I take plenty of issues with a number of Christian Universities, such as those whose administrations were (or even still are) against interracial dating and marriages, a position for which there is no justification, Biblical or otherwise. There are some Christians who would be more upset with me embedding a word they don't like in the title of this blog post than they would be with blatantly racist words and actions, and that's a huge problem.
Not to be outdone, many on the Left must have asked Falwell to hold their proverbial beers (which he probably drank). I'm old enough to remember when the Left was saying that protests should not be allowed because of COVID-19, because I'm more than a week old. A week or two ago, people were protesting extreme lockdowns, while some people on the Left were even calling for citizens to narc on each other for breaking lockdown rules and for the police to arrest these violators. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio personally showed up to tell a bunch of Jews who weren't socially distancing to go home. But suddenly, now that the Left agrees with the protests, protests should obviously be legal, and even de Blasio's daughter got arrested at one. And protests indeed should always be legal, especially when a Black man is killed by a police officer. Riots, however, are not legal, nor should they be. And those on the Left justifying the rioting are dead wrong.
Rioting hasn't just occurred in Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, but in large cities throughout the country. And people on the Left are justifying it. They're justifying looting. Windows have been smashed, and goods have been stolen. They're justifying burning down the businesses of private citizens. In some cases, those buildings have had people in them. They're justifying physically harming people. Many have been physically harmed by rioters. They're justifying killing people. More people have died after being attacked by rioters. I've seen social media posts from friends in cities, showing buildings and cars burned, people throwing bricks at firetrucks, and people blocking traffic to break into vehicles with people in them. We should be angry, and we should be protesting, but not like this. Not only are people being hurt and killed, but people are losing their livelihoods. Plenty of people of all colors are victims of the rioting, whether by assault or by destruction of their businesses, like the African American bar owner in Minneapolis whose bar burned down just before it was about to open.
Those who justify the rioting say that it's just property, which isn't as bad as murdering a man. That's true, but it still doesn't make it right, and it's based on a false premise when the rioting is literally hurting and killing people. I saw footage of several different men getting beat up. I saw footage of a woman getting beat up. I read an article about a black police officer who was killed. It's not just property. Stop the comparisons to the Boston Tea Party too. That was an uprising directly against a tyrannical Government, and this is rioting and destroying the property of private citizens, often with fire, and in many cases physically hurting people very badly, some to the point of death.
Another popular thing I've seen on social media juxtaposed the calm police treatment of the "white" armed lockdown protestors at the Michigan Capitol with the forceful treatment of the "black" unarmed protestors who were rioting. This is also a false juxtaposition, because neither group was racially homogeneous, and the difference in treatment was because one group was protesting peacefully and the other one, while it likely included plenty of peaceful protestors, also included people who were acting violently and committing arson.
Yet another popular social media post mentions that there's something wrong with you if you had a problem with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee but don't have a problem with Chauvin killing Floyd with his knee. I actually agree with that one, but it creates a straw man, because I've yet to come across someone who did not have a problem with what Chauvin did (those would be actual white supremacists who would be cool with that). Kaepernick had a right to do what he did, whether I agree with it or not. My main problem with Kaepernick is that he's a clown. He's not someone I can take seriously when he's a multimillionaire athlete protesting injustice while wearing a Che Guevara shirt and socks with policeman dressed like pigs, as his girlfriend says ridiculous things about Ray Lewis on social media, but he has the right to make any peaceful statement he wants to make.
I would even go as far as to say that sometimes, in specific situations, non-peaceful protest is warranted, but that does not extend to hurting people or putting people in danger by burning things down. Yes, Jesus Christ himself overturned tables because he was displeased with what was going on in the temple, but the rioting in the aftermath of Floyd's murder did not end after the destruction of the police precinct in Minneapolis that was burned down (thankfully, abandoned and with no one inside). Jesus overturned tables in the temple. He didn't physically harm anyone or then go out and destroy all the nearby buildings.
I've seen several videos, and there are an awful lot of white people committing crimes at these riots. People of all races are to blame. It's certainly not even remotely exclusive to the Black community. Antifa is not a good organization. They're involved in some way, and it's very likely that there are both people on the extreme Right and extreme Left out there, of all colors, intentionally igniting violent riots on the streets. Some of these people may be white supremacists, and others may be anarchists. Some on the Right may point out that more white people are killed by policeman every year than black people, and some on the Left may point out that a higher percentage of black people are killed by policeman every year. Regardless of who is rioting and what the statistics say, the fighting is causing people to lose sight of reason the protests started: George Floyd is dead.
Many Black people in this country are scared. I understand why so many people are angry, even as I can't possibly understand what it's like to have black skin. I feel so badly for them. Yes, we've come a long way in 400 years. Slavery was abolished during the Lincoln administration, but Jim Crow laws lived on for far too long. We've made a lot of progress as a nation since then, and America is a great place for anyone to live, but more progress still needs to be made, both racially and otherwise. I don't know whether or not Chauvin is a racist (the photo of him in white supremacist clothing that went viral was fake), but even if he isn't, that doesn't bring back Floyd. And even if he isn't, police brutality is still a problem.
I urge people to listen to people like Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Killer Mike, Dennis Rodman (who is apparently now a voice of reason), and members of Floyd's own family, who recognize Floyd's murder as horrific, but also discourage rioting. Killer Mike even told CNN to stop feeding fear and anger every day, which is a great point. All things that could remotely be construed as racially insensitive are magnified in the mainstream media in extreme ways, especially on CNN. This has added fuel to the fire, as have the prolonged lockdowns and lost jobs. The horrific killing of Floyd came at a time when America was a tinderbox. Rep. Maxine Waters did not help when she said to TMZ, "I believe sometimes some of these officers leave home thinking, 'I'm gonna get me one today.' And I think this is his one." And the celebrities and those on Joe Biden's staff who are donating to bail funds for rioters aren't helping either, unless there's a way to ensure that none of those funds go to those who were arrested for violent crimes. Ted Cruz's response to Justin Timberlake's bail fund donation was spot on: Why not donate to the African Americans and Hispanic small business owners whose businesses were looted and destroyed?
If my neighbor kills a member of my family and I burn down his house, you would understand why I did that, right? We can have a conversation about whether or not I would be justified, and regardless of what you think about that, I would also be charged with a crime. But if I decide to instead burn down my whole neighborhood, that would be entirely different. This is similar to the problem with riots. Similarly, if I go outside because I hear one of my neighbors yelling that he can't breathe and someone has his knee on my neighbor's neck, I'm naturally going to go over and get that person off of him in a very physical way. But if that person has a gun on him, what would I do? I'd go back inside and get my gun, point it at him, and tell him to get off immediately or I would shoot him. See why people are angry at what happened to George Floyd?
Unfortunately, if the person with a knee on my neighbor's neck was a police officer and there were three other officers with him, what could I possibly do? I could yell and scream and call 9-1-1, and I could physically try to get to him to help, but if I even threatened to shoot a police officer, I would be dead or charged with a very serious crime. One man with a gun will lose against four men with guns. I would feel helpless, like I'm sure many of the people who witnessed Floyd's murder felt. As I watched the raw footage, I just kept hoping that the other officer in view, the Asian American one who was keeping the crowd back, would somehow tell Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd's neck. If only he could have done it, Floyd's life could have been saved, and others could have been saved as well.
This is a sad time in America. We need to do better. We must do better. This is not who we are. Whether you're a police officer or a civilian, there is no justification for murder.
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