RE: George Floyd

Many years ago, I heard of an ancient cannon minted somewhere in the 1700s in a museum somewhere in Europe. It was part of a display of military hardware, in this case the artillery belonging to the army of a king. It was large and heavy, able to fire a projectile that weighed quite a bit. Around the end of the barrel was an engraved inscription: “The final argument of the King.” That struck me, and has stuck with me all these years. It was a profound impression because it said things on so many levels.

It came back to me with the violence and rioting that erupted following the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis Police officers. Much of the comments from pundits and observers are critical particularly of the black participants in the looting, and how destructive it is to civic order and to the black community itself. Calls for prosecution of the perpetrators came rapidly, as did the condemnation from the White House of these “thugs.” One comment came from President Barack Obama, that we should not accept anything as “normal,” I take that to mean that nothing about this incident is normal. That struck me in some ways as did the inscription on the cannon barrel – When a community has pleaded for the killing by the police to stop, when officers have not been held accountable for the murder of young and unarmed African American men, when things return back to that “normal,” it is patently clear why the frustration, anger, disappointment, sense of betrayal, and the despair with “the system” would fester and eventually erupt in this fashion. It always, always, comes down to this as the final argument of the African American community BECAUSE NO ONE IS LISTENING, NO ONE IS PAYING ANY ATTENTION, NO ONE IS HOLDING THE POLICE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE DIFFERENT “TO PROTECT AND TO SERVE” THAT IS PROVIDED TO THIS COMMUNITY.

And it should be clear to anyone listening, to anyone who sees, to anyone who hears what is being said beyond the bluster and destruction, that “Just obey the law” hasn’t worked for young African American men. I just hasn’t. If the power establishment will listen and hear beyond the looting to the frustration and despair, you may finally hear what they have been screaming for the past 60 years. Then, when we all come out of this, hopefully together, we may find solutions that will serve and protect everyone in the community. Here’s the thing, IF all lives mattered, there wouldn’t be a need for Black Lives Matter.