George Floyd
Last night riots broke out in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd. I don’t claim to understand the frustration that drives people over the edge like that. I don’t condone in any way what the officers did to Mr. Floyd. Nobody deserves to be brutalized like that. This is a tragedy on multiple levels. It is another reminder that we as a country have not learned the lesson, and thus have to repeat the test. Do you remember Rodney King? His words call out to us today as a country, “Can’t we all just get along?” That is a good question!
Why can’t police identify officers who have a record of brutality and get rid of them? They have no business keeping the peace by overstepping their authority. Their job is to serve and protect. How can a man who has had a dozen complaints against him still be on the force? I don’t know what has to be done to clean this up, but the police chiefs and commissioners need to pay attention to who is on their staff. Perhaps the problem goes to the top. Who knows? The people at the top ultimately have to take responsibility for the people they employ. If they turn a blind eye to brutality, then the frustration will continue to build.
On the other hand, why does his death merit burning down businesses and setting cars on fire? How does that accomplish anything positive? Here again, I don’t pretend to understand the level of frustration, but I don’t see that destroying your city is the answer to the problem.
My hope and prayer is that police officers around the country take this as a wake up call, and that people in the community learn to respond to injustice through legal means. Racism is as old as creation and the seeds of injustice have deep roots, but that does not mean we have to accept that as how it has to be. We have to learn to love and respect one another regardless of how we look, and regardless of what our job is. If we don’t learn the lesson, we WILL repeat the test and the outcome will not be good. Violence is not the answer…love is.
Shalom!
Daniel Skognes