What did you think was going to happen?

Floyd

Two things struck me this morning, commencing with this paragraph from a lead story in The Washington Post headlined "Gripped by disease, unemployment and outrage at the police, America plunges into crisis."

"America’s persistent political dysfunction and racial inequality were laid bare this week, as the coronavirus death toll hit a tragic new milestone and as the country was served yet another reminder of how black people are killed by law enforcement in disproportionately high numbers. Together, the events present a grim tableau of a nation in crisis — one seared by violence against its citizens, plagued by a deadly disease that remains uncontained and rattled by a devastating blow to its economy."

That written as cities across the United States, including Des Moines, erupted into violence overnight as protests against the killing by police in Minneapolis of George Floyd continued.

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Baldwin

The other was this quote from James Baldwin (1924-1987), a towering American author and civil rights and gay activist, who lived much of his adult life in France where racism is not so deeply embedded as it is here. It is taken from a 1989 documentary entitled, "James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket," and was his response to a question about U.S. progress in the area of racial equality:

"What is it that you wanted me to reconcile myself to? I was born here more than 60 years ago. I'm not going to live another 60 years. You always told me that it's going to take time. It’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time, my brothers’ and my sisters’ time, my niece's and my nephew's time. How much time do you want for your progress?"

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The predictable --- and understandable --- response to collective violence has been something like, "protest is fine, rioting and looting are not." That's true, but in many cases fails to take into account the fact that violent protest is a symptom, not the disease.

It's happened many times before in these United States and was inevitable as this situation played out.

Violent protest simply means that many of those engaged in it --- and there are some self-serving provocateurs in any situation --- are convinced that no one is listening.

The disease here is endemic racism.

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What to do? Search your own heart, abandon the notion that there is no collective responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in, do your best to root racism out of your own system (we're all infected) and stand for justice --- not just the flag.