We took a break from the Covid crisis today to mourn a brother of color whose life was senselessly taken by police in Minneapolis. The wasting of this man’s life was followed by rioting, looting, and violence. This situation brings back memories of Washington, DC in April, 1968. For 4 days, smoke and flames filled the air over 14th Street and beyond as everything was set on fire by those rioting and looting the area following the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. Fueled by what the black community experienced as humiliation, poverty, segregation, and discrimination, riots began when angry people filled the street. A rock was thrown through a store window, a small fire was set, the crowd grew, looting began, and the rest is history.
As with the murder of George Floyd, one horrible act led to another as yet one more unnecessary death once again resulted in destruction. This morning, Omar Jimenez, a black Latino CNN correspondent, who was covering the live scene with his colleagues, was handcuffed and led away while his white counterparts looked on. While being led away, he asked the officer why he was being arrested and the officer replied, “I’m just doing what I was told to do.” The Governor did step in after he was apparently contacted by the head of CNN and Omar was then released later this morning. It makes us wonder if it is time to question what type of leadership would allow this to happen. Is it time for all of us to stand up for our brothers and sisters? While we do not condone the violence, we believe that all our voices have a right to be heard.
Over the past several days, Joe Biden, sitting in his Wilmington, DE home, has looked and sounded more presidential than our current President. As the world looks on, Joe Biden has shown empathy and understanding for the pain that this country is experiencing. Not only the pain, loss of life and destruction from Covid but for all issues plaguing Americans.
In the meantime, Trump took to Twitter and responded like a mafia boss calling protesters “THUGS” and tweeting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” How insane is that! So insane that Twitter had to red flag Trump’s comment as a rules violation for inciting violence. Is this his idiotic strategy and show of leadership? Yes, it is, and for that reason as the world looks on, we find ourselves in trouble.
While this country faces the real issues of civil rights, personal freedoms, immigration, the environment, unemployment, and a financial crisis, we continue to try to seek the truth. Instead, the country is being led by tweets and a group comprised of under 30% of Americans who are setting this country on fire by their hatred. Many of their crimes are far greater than any crime that George Floyd committed the day of this death. He did not resist arrest but his life was stolen from him.
Our 2Gals4Peace blog is about Peace and Social Justice. Yet, it is harder to find those in our country today while being governed by the current leadership. Mishandling, manipulation, murder, and mayhem seems to be the rule of this Administration and all this is committed without conscience. George Floyd is a symbol of those struggling in this country today and, from McConnell to Trump, they look away as others cry for help. We are struggling to breathe while those coming before have given their lives just trying to live. We are a country that continues to struggle to breathe. And as we do, the entire world watches.
