Well, we got something else to talk about.
God help us all, we got something else to talk about.
George Floyd, a 46 year old African American man in Minneapolis, died after police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for several minutes. Floyd was restrained and unarmed. His last words before he died: "I can't breathe."
We've been here before. The disparity of the use of police force against black men is a too often sad fact of life in America. It is, as Michelle Obama described it, "a heartbreak that never seems to stop."
The repeating nature of this problem goes a long way towards the response to Floyd's death. An enraged howl of frustration that this keeps happening is a completely expected response. There's only so many times the same damned bad thing that happen over and over until there comes a collective cry for justice, for attention to be paid, expressed in hot anger and blistering rage.
Enough is enough.
But much like the coronavirus pandemic story, the problems spinning out of the killing of George Floyd are compounded by ineffectual leadership at the top of our government. Trump, playing true to form with his racist dog whistles to his base, is more concerned with issuing threats to "thugs" than to understand the reason for the anger. Displaying his usual lack of nuance, Li'l Donnie can only try to play tough guy in response to protesters. Of course, Trump has no incentive to do anything different. Those protesters did not vote for him; the white under-educated racists who did vote for him like the tough talk.
The brother of George Floyd received a condolence call from Donald Trump. Well, the call was described as hurried with Trump saying stuff really quickly and giving George's brother no chance to say anything. Once again, Li'l Donnie is not capable of even faking empathy. His only concern is the narrative that will help with his re-election. That narrative is come down hard on those who protest as "thugs".
There is no question that looting is bad. Vandalism and theft are wrong, no matter the incitement. But looting and protests should not be conflated. The protests extend from a rage and a frustration that is real. The inequalities that exists between law enforcement and the citizens they are charged to serve can be addressed but only if we have the will to pay attention and the will to act. After suffering these inequities time and time and time again, it is any surprise that people might turn to fire to get that attention, to demand that action.
It's in these times fraught with tension and rage, I think about my favorite poem by Robert Frost, "Once By the Pacific".
The shattered water made a misty din.
Great waves looked over others coming in,
And thought of doing something to the shore
That water never did to land before.
The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,
Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.
You could not tell, and yet it looked as if
The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,
The cliff in being backed by continent;
It looked as if a night of dark intent
Was coming, and not only a night, an age.
Someone had better be prepared for rage.
There would be more than ocean-water broken
Before God's last Put out the light was spoken.
When people have been hurt badly time and time and time again, we should not be surprised by the reaction.
When people have been hurt badly time and time and time again,"someone had better be prepared for rage".
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