Are you feeling scared and powerless? Like society’s grip on sanity is slowly slipping away with each peaceful protest that turns violent and destroys a community already nearly destroyed by the virus. It’s like we’re kicking ourselves when we’re down. I mean, have you watched the confrontations between police and protesters and the nine minute snuff film which is just about the furthest thing from “serving and protecting” ever recorded.
Bad people have to stop winning. There it is, don’t hire any more bad officers, call out leaders who promote hate and separation and bullying, train anyone who watches the George Floyd video why this should never happen again. Teach, learn, teach, learn, and teach some more.
Are all cops bad? Course not, but bad cops are especially bad because of their position of authority. Are all protesters bad? Again no, but a protester slamming his skateboard through a car window becomes the story and even in these times of the lid being off the sewer, illegal behavior is still wrong.
We should all be proud to be Americans. Proud to live in a free democracy where we choose our leaders and those leaders help us move forward. We should come together during difficult times (like a pandemic), and put those who want to divide us in check. The George Floyd video should have led to an immediate and severe response just like all the other videos depicting racial injustice.
It is a privilege to live in a country where we can protest freely but when those protests go south, the message is lost. You have a right to chant, “No justice, no peace.” But when you light cars on fire, you are crossing a line that is not only illegal but kills any message you are trying to make.
A smart society learns from its problems. A dumb society blames others for it’s problems and learns nothing. We have been blaming each other for too long. This has been a horrific few days and we need to learn from it, unite and become stronger. Especially now when emotions are raw and stability is tenuous. Pay attention to who is blaming and who is teaching and learning in the days ahead.
You are not powerless, stand up to the bad people but do it in a way that doesn’t lose the message.
Walt Williams is in it for the money, that and the prestige that goes with 22 years of teaching in California high schools (he’s not the smartest tool in the shed). He firmly believes in more standardized testing and that fitting all students into the same box is really the answer. He strongly supports fracking and that climate change is a fantasy made up by hippie liberals, also that the military needs more funding and that schools should just stop whining.