Friday
Jul082016
Friday, July 8, 2016 at 08:56AM
MLK, "Violence begets violence."
The killings in recent days in three different cities and states easily leads to a "rush to judgment" about why such events take place. Politicians feel the need to pontificate from their corridors of power far from the scene, the media feeds the frenzy by passing on what amounts to on the street gossip and/or so-called instant expert analysis.
Into this maelstrom people from all political walks of life, Right and Left, Black and White, Liberal and Conservative are compelled to "talk, talk talk" without any direct evidence.
What we need is to take a deep breath and be patient in a age of social media when opinions are easily shaped by Facebook pictures from those on the scene but far from being objective observers. Why the rush to judgment? Why can't we let the facts be sorted over time? Part of the answer is that we all want instant gratification - that's the culture. Part of it is that we want to use such tragic events to justify preconceived opinions about such events.
In the "blame game" if you are in Black Lives Matter you have a ready made answer - the history of police brutality. If you come from the police community you have a point of view shaped by dealing 24/7 with the most violent aspects of modern society. Sadly such horrific events feed into the political narrative that our society is coming apart at the seams. Some will argue we need to do 'muscular' things. I think creating communities of justice is the course.
At the end of the day - the two most prominent actors in this theater of the absurd are Black Lives Matter and the NRA. Each has their own agenda and never shall the twain meet. Then comes in The Donald with his inflammatory rhetoric which eggs one side on while the protest rhetoric from BLM et al yells in rallies "what do you want and when do you want it?" Of course in both cases the answer is NOW. But that's not the way a democracy digests social issues - it takes time and distance.
Protest in the streets or retreating behind a "thin blue line" accomplishes nothing. What is needed is engaging in civil discourse - aka the hard work of democracy. It's like parenting - a life time obligation.
So before we go off into our own "realities" - let's take a pause and let the investigations of these events take place before we rush to judgement again. As a White person my encounters with police are few and far between and given my White privilege I've never been a victim. But one's skin color didn't necessarily protect one from bullets last night in Dallas. Hopefully this will be an isolated event not a "new normal" where "the other" takes things in their hands including an AR-15.
It's time for calm, retrospection and sorting the facts out - not a time to rush to one's ideological bunker. It's also a time to engage in civil discourse which is not seen in social media posts nor marches... On both the Right and Left - be it a Tea Party rally or a BLM protest while the participants may be peaceful - their rhetoric is often less so. It's time to lower the decibel level and time to engage the citizenry. If one wants to protest, try a "silent vigil"... and leave your guns home!
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