Will Protesting Eliminate Racism?
Or is there a better way? What can young children teach us?
The death of George Floyd triggered a wave of protests around the country and even to other countries. Everyone from the general public to other police officers agree that George Floyd should not have died and the officers involved need to be held accountable for their actions.
This has resulted in many protesting the system where injustice still occurs in the land of the free. Most of the protestors marched peacefully in many cities with their signs supporting Black Lives Matter and condemning racism. This public firestorm eventually leads to removing statues that many deemed racist, police reforms including restricting chokeholds and initiating discussions on setting up a database to track officers with a history of misconduct.
Certainly, Americans have benefited from living in a country with freedom of speech whereas other countries still hold on to overt racism and the idea of being “politically correct” does not exist. And unquestionably, although the current state in the US is far from perfect, it is better than it was 60 years ago when segregation was legally enforced in the country.
Will Protesting eliminate systemic racism?
No doubt, people still face racism in 2020. The question is how to end it. The answer is complicated. To begin let’s briefly review what protesting has accomplished in the past:
- During the Great Depression, rent strikes lead some cities to temporarily suspend evictions to provide some relief to the poor.
- The Civil Rights movement eventually culminated in the ending of segregation in school, transportation, restaurants, medical care, housing and passing of laws to prevent employment discrimination based on race, color, gender or religion.
Is the answer to defund or abolish the police?
To explore the answer to this, we need to first analyze what is the purpose of having police? When many think about cops, they may only think of them after seeing the flashing red lights after driving too quickly or when receiving a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a red light. But we often forget that police are essential in maintaining order. Police often have to deal with people at their worst or under the influence of drugs or alcohol and some of these people want to hurt others including other cops. The police keep the public safe from violent criminals, rapists, child molesters and murderers.
Additionally, police are often the first responders during 911 calls and ensure the scene is safe and provide basic medical care until the EMTs arrive. And since the police are often the first ones on the scenes, they are the ones who need to de-escalate tense situations and talk people out of suicide.
If police are abolished, who will protect the public from others who choose to commit crimes?
During the recent Father’s Day weekend in Chicago, over 100 were shot that weekend killing 15, including a 3yr old black boy and other children. There were no protests for those shot or killed that weekend in Chicago. Additionally, a recent news article reported that when a Black father’s son was killed by an illegal immigrant, he could not get Black Lives Matter or any Black activists to help. Without police, invariably neighborhoods would become even more dangerous.
What started as a peaceful protest in many areas, others used it as a cover to loot, riot and clash with police. In Seattle, protestors set up an area named CHOP (Capital Hill Occupied Protest) free of cops and made demands to government officials. Some CHOP leaders even stated that White people in the occupied area needed to give money to Black people and further stated,
”If you find it difficult to give money now, in the future, are you (White people) going to give up capital & land?”
Other CHOP organizers such as Jaiden Grayson simply stated there will be more destroying until more changes. “I’m not here to peacefully protest. I’m here to disrupt until my demands are met” stated Jaiden. The self-proclaimed Warlord of CHOP, Raz Simone, was even recorded handing out AR15s assault rifles from his Tesla to other protestors in the CHOP zone.
Unsurprisingly, this small area of downtown Seattle that they declared free of police did not result in freedom from crime. There were many assaults, several were shot, some died from the shootings and one rape was reported in just the brief time CHOP was in existence.
This was the perfect storm beginning with being locked up for so long due to the pandemic, wearing masks in public, the anger of George Floyd’s death . . .
However, there is a distinct difference between protesting and stealing. New York City officers found bricks and stones in strategic places around the city to break into stores. Most businesses were already suffering from the Coronavirus and now to be hit by the looting and the rioting may prevent some from ever reopening. And the result is that local residents can not get food or their medications for some time in the area. Additionally, there are limits to what store owners can recover using their insurance.
A popular Youtuber known for his vlogs about riding motorcycles narrated his ride through the Chicago riots past burnt-out cop cars and where looting was still taking place in some stores. He reported that even some Black-owned businesses that spray-painted their support for BLM were still looted along with almost all the cell phone and food & liquor stores in some areas. Another Youtuber, who normally provides content about car collections, recorded the scenes as he drove his car in Santa Monica as protestors broke into stores, cars and in one instance ripped out an ATM to steal the money inside as police drove by for higher priority calls.
The aftermath of the riots made the stores in the Bronx looked like a Tornado hit it. The news clip showed an ATM ripped out from a bank, everything was stolen out of a T-mobile store, cars were burnt out and some protestors ganged up to attack a single cop. Many of the businesses damaged were family businesses owned by minorities who support the BLM movement.
One poignant example of needless violence was reported by a Virginia police chief who started his report by sharing in anger of George Floyd’s death. And then he tearfully recounted that protestors purposely set fire to a home with a child inside and blocked firefighters from entering and that violence to others is no way to fight racism.
There comes a point when the protests and looting are no longer about fighting racism or police brutality but using it as a cover to excuse their actions. One of the looters that were caught mentioned that he did not know who the protest was about but knew they could steal things during the unrest. A Black police chief in St. Louis became emotional after reporting that some threw rocks and explosives on officers, poured gas on them and four of his officers were shot.
During the looting in the Bronx, protestors stole jewelry from a pawn shop and violently beat the owner, a 68yr old Asian American mother. When she tried to escape in a car, they beat her with a crowbar, broke her femur and dragged her daughter (a recent medical school graduate) out of her car.
How are violence and theft — many of which are against other Blacks and minorities supposed to fight systemic racism?
In other areas, protestors can be seen on video throwing bricks, rocks and water bottles at police. But recent violence during protests was not limited to the US, in London, Violent protesters were videotaped throwing glass bottles, flares and even bikes at police and their horses.
Attempting to rid systemic racism in the US may be likened to trying to rid the national debt in one year. It is well-intentioned but the problem is too big and too complicated. However, if we break the problem into smaller parts, we each can play a part.
The US was once believed to be the melting pot of the world. However, although it is one of the most diverse countries in the world, many still remain segregated either by their neighborhood or by their cultures and they are still reluctant to mix and unite with another. And although none of us would like others to judge us by the color of our skin or height or weight, it often happens.
In a divided world, who’s example can we learn from? Young children!
Do you remember the Golden rule? In nearly all cultures, there is some form of the Golden rule taught to young children — to treat people like you would like to be treated. And young children naturally treat others kindly regardless of their color.
To young child, do black lives matter? Yes! And also Native Americans, Whites, Asians, Latinos. It doesn’t matter where they are from or their gender.
Do we women still face inequality? How about single parents? How about if you were born in a poor family and live in the rough part of town. There are many inequalities and extra challenges that many have to face and it would be impossible to fix those issues. But if we put on a new set of glasses and look at young children’s examples, our vision can be adjusted and improved.
This video of two 8 year olds is very enlightening. Here a black boy holds the hands of a white autistic boy to calm him down. It is a beautiful reminder that the color of their skin doesn’t matter (or that the other has speech impediments).
Young children can teach all of us a lesson. This cute video of a white and black boy running to give each other a hug reminds us that we can learn from the purity and joy of young children. Play together, forgive quickly and experience the joy of being united regardless of color, gender or size.
Tags: Justice, Politics, Government, Police, Life Lessons
