It’s been said in recent days that the tragedy that struck Dallas is somewhat reminiscent of an earlier time, another tragedy, another moment of profound community sorrow.
The deaths of five police officers is tragic in the extreme and no one should give short shrift to the grief. Their families are shattered. A community is forced to ask itself “Why?” in the wake of the violence that erupted the other night near the end of a peaceful march through the city’s downtown district.
Dallas, though, has shown a community spirit that was challenged in the most horrific fashion imaginable. It occurred nearly 53 years ago when President John F. Kennedy was gunned down while riding in a motorcade through the city.
Those of us who are old enough to recall that terrible shock understand the national grief that enveloped us all. I’m not at all sure how one grapples with such grief when it happens in your community, with your neighbors directly involved.
Dallas suffered a terrible stigma as a result of that single act of violence in 1963. It took a while for the city to recover. It did.
It became an even more vibrant community. It grew out of its grief and has become one of the world’s — not just one of the nation’s — great cities.
It’s good to take note that communities far more often than not are able to dig deep to find the reservoir of encouragement from which they will build a path toward the future.
Whether they are struck by profound natural disaster or by the kind of violence that erupted the other night — and that which claimed the life of a world leader more than a half-century ago — they find a way back.
I am supremely confident that Dallas will recover and that it will emerge from this tragedy an even better community.
Some prayer and good wishes clearly are in order as Dallas seeks to collect itself.
