These certainly are trying times we are facing at the moment. As of this writing, over one hundred and eight thousand people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, there are protests and riots happening across the nation, and it seems like none of us can agree on even one single topic. That might be a bit of hyperbole, but I think we all know what I mean. I’ve already given one of my takes on the COVID-19 situation, so I thought maybe I’d weigh in on the George Floyd affair, specifically, the riots. (I’m not going to get into the details of the George Flyod incident because, frankly, if you don’t see what happened to him as criminal, I doubt what I’m about to say will have much impact on you.)
I do not condone the riots. I think they only exacerbate strongly felt emotions and deeply rooted prejudices. I also believe that not everybody engaging in the rioting and looting are doing so simply because they are angry about injustice. I even think some are just trying to foment anger against the other side. However, I do believe there is a large percentage of people who are participating are doing so because they’re angry and frustrated and sick and tired of the inequities in our society. And to those people I want to say, even though I do not condone such activities, I’m doing my best to understand. I believe if we all really took a moment to think about it, there would be understanding all around.
Reflect for a moment, on a time in your life, when you were unfairly wronged or were extremely angry. Let us not pretend we haven’t all felt this way at one point or another in our lives. How did you feel? What did you want to do? I admit to having multiple times in my life when I’ve been so angry, so maddened by a situation, that for no other reason than to release the frustration I was feeling, I wanted to break something. And I’m not referring to snapping a pencil or kicking at the dirt, I’m talking glass shattering therapy here. I’m talking going down to the junkyard with a baseball bat and having at it. Of course, if you know me, that could happen weekly at the bowling alley if I’ve been in a slump, but in everyday life, it’s a much more rare occurrence. I’m also not saying that I actually go through with it, but I’ve been embarrassingly close, and I think if you’re honest with yourself, you have been too.
Now imagine, what if the thing that gets you that angry happened on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis? Would you not be ready to explode? I’m not saying you would or should, but can you not at least understand how you would want to? And, truth be told, not all of you would have the self-restraint to control yourselves. Human beings, on average, most certainly have not mastered their emotions to that level.
In reference to those who argue that those whose property is being damaged didn’t deserve it, you’ll hear no argument from me. However, when anger runs high, innocent people often get caught in the crossfire. Again, put it in the context of your own life. Who hasn’t taken their frustration out on a loved one, or even an innocent nonacquaintance when they’ve had a bad day?
Yes, yes, yes. I know. What is happening in cities all across the country is larger in scale, and possibly in significance, yet there are parallels to be made. So, feel free to condone the riots and the looting, but also try and understand from where it all stems. Martin Luther King Jr, known for his commitment to non-violence, acknowledged his understanding of the symptoms that lead to rioting. In his speech entitled, The Other America, King explained,
“...it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.”1 [You can watch this bit of the speech here.]
He was, of course, right. The United States has “failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met.” America has indeed postponed justice. This statement is true for many more groups than just African Americans (Native Americans, Latinos, Asians, Jews, Muslims, etc.), but they have certainly bared the brunt of the injustice, and they’ve been absorbing it since the birth of this nation. Can you imagine being the subject of oppression for three hundred years?
One would have thought that after the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, things would have improved progressively for minorities, but for African Americans especially, very little has changed. Blacks continue to see systemic inequality in education, the labor force, housing, the criminal justice system, as well as other areas.2 The discrimination that was supposed to be eliminated by the 1965 Voting Rights Act has been on the rise as we see voter suppression gaining momentum across the country.3 These enduring issues directly relate to what King was saying. “As long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots.”
Knowing all of this, does that change the fact that the riots are counterproductive to the cause? Of course not. I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind concerning the morality of the situation, I’m just attempting to provide some perspective. You can condemn the acts being perpetrated and still understand the reasoning behind them. I just find it extremely disheartening that so many people refuse to acknowledge the underlying causes, especially white people.
I know many people do not want to hear it, but white privilege is a real thing. I am the living, breathing proof of that. Many of you follow me because of the walk I embarked on in 2016 (my attempt to walk across the country which sadly ended after just over a 1000 miles), and if you look back on my experiences, do you really think I would have had such an easy time of it if I had been anything other than a white male? Over a dozen times I was questioned by police officers during my 3+ months on the road and not once was I detained, handcuffed, or even harshly spoken to (except once, but that officer didn’t even get out of his car and never drove by again to see if I’d followed his directive). I was never harassed for walking through someone’s town. People willingly offered up their homes for me to stay in. Others stopped and gave me water, food, or money. Would this have happened had my skin been darker by a shade or more? Honestly, if it happened at all, it wouldn’t have been nearly as often. I truly believe that.
Look, I’m not trying to lecture anybody here and I’m not attempting to minimize the difficulties faced by any one segment of the population, I just think it’s extremely important for each of us to do what we can to understand other people’s perspectives. Everybody lives a different life to that of their next door neighbor and your neighbor’s issues are rarely your issues. That’s true if you and your neighbor look the same; imagine the differences in the problems faced by neighbors who look different from one another.
As I’m fond of mentioning, though I may be the self-proclaimed Great and Mighty Nobody, I don’t have all of the answers. Yet, even using my infinitely miniscule amount of wisdom, I can’t see how each of us trying our best to empathize with our fellow human could be a bad thing. The one thing I do know is that not everybody is trying right now. I think it’s time to change that. Today would be a great day to start.
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