“But seriously, what is destroying the community going to solve?”
There tends to be a focused amount of attention on violence during times of protests, with questions asked by many that goes something like, “What good will it do?”, “But seriously, what is destroying the community going to solve?” There are many layers and levels involved in answering this question, many that are presumptuous for me to answer given I was raised white and privileged. Yet, I deeply believe there are far better questions to ask and I know in my heart there is a much better listening that needs to happen. Here’s what I do know, the quality of your questions will directly correlate to the quality of information you receive in return AND people can not hear you until they feel fully heard.
There are 250 cities nationally, with 1,000s of hours, and 100,000's of people who are peacefully protesting the latest murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the relentless tyranny of racial injustice. What must be observed and acknowledged is a majority of all these protests are peaceful. No one is suggesting any percentage of violence & looting is the “right way” to protest, and it is unequivocally NOT right for “outside” groups whose self-serving interest is NOT social justice for ALL to be inciting the portion of violence and looting they are involved in. Some protesters are looting out of the same anger that drives the protests, and other looters are not protesters at all. But because it’s impossible to untangle every person’s motivations and intent, it’s much easier to lump them all into a group to create a narrative of the event that fits our understanding. There are some truths that are obvious, there is no one reason and there is no one motivation, for violence or for peace.
Yet, those of you railing against looting and violence during the protests, were you equally as offended and horrified when white anti-lockdown protesters armed with weapons including an AT4 rocket launcher, assault rifles, and hand guns wearing bulletproof vests, fatigues and tactical gear, stormed state capitol buildings based on a complaint of state governments lawfully making policy? As for the police response, where was the tear gas, the shields, the SUV’s driving into people, the threat of a full federal military response, when that was happening? It is impossible to imagine people of color angrily marching with military-style weapons, dressed for war, down any street USA, now or at any time in history, and being treated with the same generosity that these white protesters were by law enforcement. IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE!
Every ounce of my peace-loving, non-violent being wants these protests against police violence & racial injustice to be & remain peacefully powerful protests. I also want the focus to stay on the underlying causes of the protest and not just the actions of the protesters. People of all ages, cultures, ethnicities and races are taking to the streets, at the risk of their own lives, to peacefully protest in the hopes we can stay laser focused on what it will take to, once and for all, achieve comprehensive change and true transformation that engenders a system which is inclusive and equitable for all.
