Responses — Group 3

I’m as concerned as everyone else about the Floyd case, but where I part ways with the activists is framing it purely as a racial issue. Though racism may well be a factor in the killing of George Floyd, the commentary is sidetracking us from the underlying problem of police malpractice. To today’s arrogant, militarized urban police forces, it’s not a matter of black and white — to them, we’re all Iraqis, to be treated as a colonized rabble. Charges have been filed in Minneapolis, so there will be a trial at which any racial effect will come out in the testimony. Meanwhile, let’s broaden the focus of activism to all those cases where police murder citizens for no valid reason and get away with it, in many cases without charges even being filed. The Olin and Shaver cases were white-on-white, and all other racial combinations exist. We need to put an end to police impunity and evasion of accountability, not warp the issue into yet another racial axe-grinding session.

Alan G.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 3:45 PM

We are living in what feels like the scariest of times and it’s so difficult to know what to believe. I am a woman of color, in my 50s, a professional, living in a suburb of NYC. I am hearing that the protests which evolved into looting and fires were actually started not by protesters protesting against the system that allows the police to kill us in the streets, very often with no real consequences. But instead by others claiming to support our causes — Antifa, I was told, are the culprits. I understand that they’re funded by George Soros. That George Soros and Antifa are masquerading as supporters but actually are burning down and destroying Black and brown communities. I am also concerned about Joe Biden and that he may not actually have our best interests in mind. He created laws that lead us into long prison sentences, and now he wants to issue an apology, forget what his policies have done to our community and tell us if we don’t stand with him we aren’t Black enough. Then there is our president, who doesn’t have a unifying platform and has wreaked havoc on our fragile democracy, health care system and economy.

Giselle M.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 2:18 PM

I'm opposed to career police (I'm also opposed to career politicians). I would rather see mandatory rotating service where the police on the beat are people from the community serving their term as police, similar to serving on a jury. You get to serve one or two years immediately after graduating high school, similar to the Israeli military. This eliminates the "us" and "them," and gives everyone a firsthand understanding of what is involved. This would also mean that the officers patrolling the streets of a neighborhood would be largely of the same ethnic group as those who live there, and would therefore have a much better understanding of the problems and culture of the people there. I grew up with an abusive stepfather who seemed to enjoy intimidating several of us, and me in particular. In addition to being physically abusive, he used favoritism, deception, clever lies and misrepresentation to create situations that "demanded punishment," and looked for other opportunities to browbeat and humiliate us, publicly, if possible. I experienced this from the ages of 5.5 to about 14. As a result, I'm not much of a fan of any authoritarian figure. I saw my stepfather in the cops in the George Floyd video. When I saw the lack of concern, arrogance and insensitivity of their body language, I felt a level of instantaneous resentment and rage reminiscent of my childhood. I'm not Black and have not directly felt racial bias, but I know and recognize the arrogant opportunism of bullying, and I've seen it many times throughout my life. No one should have to put up with that.

Tim S.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 2:38 PM

I think slavery has changed us in ways that no other group has had to contend with, perhaps except Indigenous peoples, whose stolen lands cradle the blood and bones of both our ancestors. Slavery has changed us in biological ways. There is emerging literature about epigenetics and intergenerational trauma, changing the very DNA we pass on to our descendants. Thus, I do not know how it could be possible for any people to emerge from four centuries of slavery unbroken. In my mind, not to recognize we are a broken people in need of healing would be not to acknowledge the brutality of slavery and what it did and continues to do to us. Let me be clear: This is not a brokenness we have done to ourselves. But I do not know who could understand and heal our brokenness, except us. … Given the trauma we have collectively endured, I'd say it's nothing short of miraculous we are the way we are and where we are; that despite slavery and continued colonization, we are still successful in every endeavour, can sing with joy, can dance with style, can love so deeply and can hope for a better future. … Lest anyone thinks this is another diatribe of placing Black problems squarely at black feet — No, let me reiterate that structural injustice/racism exists in both egregious and insidious ways. Still, I only hope that we don't believe or start to think that if we fix all the structural issues, that all our problems will go away with it. I don't think 400 years of slavery makes that possible, especially since we haven't even been out of that system for equal time. Until that time, we have work to do — both internal and external. … What I have said is not meant to take away from the necessary and urgent fight against structural injustice. It is merely to remind ourselves that we don't win a war by employing one strategy.

Dayna N.

to Carlos Watson

Wed, Jun 3, 12:57 PM

This is a total overreaction. A bad cop did a bad thing ... nothing more, nothing less. To blow this up into anti-cop rhetoric or a black/white issue is foolish and irresponsible. We all make decisions in life, and there are consequences. When you don’t graduate from high school, get pregnant before you are married or have multiple children when you have little income, you are bound for a life in poverty. And for those that do this, they only have themselves to blame. The best thing they can do is teach their children these lessons, but they don’t seem to ... generation after generation after generation. This is where your focus should be.

Tracy T.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 1:32 PM

I spent the weekend talking with my children about the current events in America. It was obvious they were sad and frustrated. They wanted to contribute to the protests and stand tall with our community. It made me realize that they did not have the tools to add to a very short list as to what they could contribute. They could march, bring water or contribute masks, but that did not fill the void that continued to grow wider each passing day. Were these actions important? Absolutely. Given the situation, though, it did not seem to be enough. It made me wonder about what I have taught them as a parent and what I have taught my students as a teacher. I am not one to shy away from difficult conversations in my classroom. I still do not think this is enough. I need to help facilitate student learning, so that when they are ready to take a stand they have the tools to create a long list of actions they can choose from, both immediate and long lasting. I can no longer waste any time on a classroom that pushes students to conform to the past. My hope is that other teachers see the need to help students find their own voice so that they can lead us out into a much brighter future.

Sue G.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 4:02 PM

If there is one thing that must come from this troubled time and, specifically, the murder of George Floyd, it is that it is time to hold accountable the majority of Americans who stay silent in the face of what Americans of color, and I mean primarily Black Americans, live and experience every day. The constant stress of worrying how every action that you take, whether it’s jogging, going into a store or even using the amenities in your office building, can be perceived as a threat and acted upon as such by a majority that has been raised and socialized from birth that Blacks are inferior and also incapable of being equal. … And, here we are, not just having “The Talk” with my now-grown sons but still having to have it with my 13-year-old grandson, whose life I already fear for.

Rusty L.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 2:18 PM

I've had a lot of white people and non-Black POC from the four corners of my social media universe express their hopelessness and how they just "don't understand," and — above all else — their desire to "do something." I personally feel immense grief, exasperation, outrage and debilitating despair right now … but what I've said to as many people as I can, and what I'll say to you, is I want this moment to be different from the many, many like moments in the past. There is very swift mobilization with hashtag activism, protesting, fundraising, etc., and those are all great, but I suspect that a lot of people are actually throwing themselves into those things because sitting with the grief itself is so intolerable. It makes us so uncomfortable that we want to just go and "do something" rather than invite ourselves into a position of real empathy and compassion. I kind of chided a friend recently, a white friend, who said, "I just don't understand racism," to which I responded, "Well, what have you done to try?"

Frances N.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 2:18 PM

Frances N.

to Carlos Watson

Mon, Jun 1, 3:45 PM