Events of the past few days have prompted this entry. The senseless killing of an unarmed man law enforcement in Minneapolis has shocked and angered many of us. I have racked my brain for a reason that this might be acceptable behavior for anyone sworn to protect the public safety of any community.
In some small way it hark ens back to 1996 when I was carjacked at 3 in the afternoon on a sunny June day across from my employer's location. I was not grievously injured in the attack but after the guy hit me with my keys balled up in his fist shattering the orbital bone in my eye leaving my a bloody mess and I realized that this event could end badly for me. My car had an entry code and the guy said, "give me the fucking code or I will kill you". I pleaded "please don't kill me, I've got a lot of kids". Anyway they drove off and left me alive but bleeding. When the car was gone, I was glad I wasn't run over. I stress that the gravity of my incident pales by comparison to what happened to Mr. Floyd.
This poor man was apprehended by authorities on a fraud charge. He was handcuffed and put on the ground. Then an expressionless officer leaned on this neck, cutting off his airway. At some point Mr. Floyd must have thought that he was going to be killed, really not knowing way. Pleading for his life did not deter his captor from shutting down his ability to breathe and he succumbed to his captors. If someone that is subdued says "please let me breathe", regardless of their crime, human decency should dictate some manner of release. To put it in the simplest of terms, I expected my assailants to threaten my life. Mr. Floyd's pleas that fell on deaf ears for his life were ignored by the officer sworn to protect the public.
Racial animus runs rampant in this country. We can blame it on a variety of factors from poverty, lack of employment opportunities and a broken educational system. Racism is systemic in our society going back for generations. It seems that our diverse country has never got comfortable with living with one and other. African Americans do not trust that white folks have their best interest in mind with good reason. The have been shit on by Caucasians for a long time.
We live in a diverse building. In this time of pandemic, we really cannot sit down together and talk aside from a quick greeting. And we really do not know each other. Hopefully after this lock down is lifted, we can again speak again in a less restrictive manner.
I am quite concerned about what we do moving forward. Truly, I believe we do not know how bad it is to be black in America. And we will never know that or understand this fact of life. Have all white people been perpetrators of racism in our country. Yes at least in part in my belief. We have to embrace this and understand it before we can move ahead for our grand children so all of them can inherit a better America.
This post took me three days to compose. So please excuse the choppiness. As always, these are my feelings and opinions and I appreciate your patience.
all for now
stay safe
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