Tag Archives: I can’t breathe

Hoping for signs of healing

I want to see more of what we witnessed Monday night in Fort Worth, and in Santa Cruz, Calif., and in Portland, Ore.

I want to see police “taking a knee” as a show of anguish over the death of George Floyd a week ago in Minneapolis, Minn. I also want to see peaceful protesters recognize that demonstration in the moment and thank the officers for the good faith they are demonstrating.

It’s not at all clear to me whether there is any healing or reconciliation in store immediately in the aftermath of Floyd’s hideous death while being arrested by cops. The officers, four of whom were fired by the department, held Floyd down; one of the officers shoved his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck, choking the life out of him. That officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder and manslaughter; the three other officers stood by and watched — and to my eye they are complicit in Floyd’s ghastly death.

We are starting to hear from police officers around the country stand up for the rights of those who feel persecuted by law enforcement. They are telling us that what they witnessed in Minneapolis — just as what we all saw — was wrong.

They are speaking out and and they also are standing with the peaceful protesters.

Fort Worth police found themselves buried in the embrace of those who gathered to demonstrate against violence. Portland police were getting high-fives and hugs from those in that city who gathered to protest peacefully. The same thing happened in Santa Cruz. It’s happening in communities all across the land.

Is this the end of the story? It’s just the beginning of it. May it continue, though, with reason, rational discussion and restraint.

Don’t go there, Rep. Waters

Donald Trump has plenty for which he must answer.

The abysmal initial pandemic response; the way he lashes out gratuitously; his incessant lying; his denigration of war heroes, of handicapped individuals; his monstrously boorish behavior.

The death of a Minneapolis man at the hands of rogue cops? No. Let’s not go there.

And yet, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has determined that Trump is “partially” responsible for George Floyd’s death this week when a Minneapolis police officer held his head to the pavement with a knee planted on the back of his head and neck.

Floyd has become a martyr for the cause of police reform.

However, to equate Donald Trump’s hideous behavior with this incident doesn’t fly with me.

Waters told TMZ: “My first thought was: ‘Not again, not one more killing,’” said the California congresswoman. “And I’m reflecting on all of the killings of young black men, in particular, but of course black women, too — at the hands of the police and at the hands of these white supremacists.”

“And I’m thinking about the way that the president conducts himself,” she declared. “In a way he’s dog-whistling, and I think that they’re feeling that they can get away with this kind of treatment.”

Trump needs to answer for a lot of things. However, the actions of the now-former cop isn’t one of them. The now-former cop had a history of discipline issues related to his treatment of civilians. The George Floyd incident is just the latest.

Let’s keep our eyes on the real issues. Let us also ensure that we hold Donald Trump responsible for the issues that matter to his conduct as president of the United States.

Is this the tipping point? Finally?

I am numbed by what the nation keeps witnessing.

Another African-American man has died at the hands — or more to the point, at the knee — of a police officer. For what reason? Well, he was being arrested for a non-violent crime. George Floyd did what the cops asked him to do. Yet he was put on the ground and a Minneapolis, Minn., police officer kept the pressure on Floyd’s neck until he passed out.

Then this man died.

The outrage has been horrific. Then again, the incident is horrific.

The police department fired the four officers who were involved in Floyd’s arrest and death. And today one of them, Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

This clearly isn’t the end of the story. We still have the three other officers apart from the one who pressed his knee in the back of George Floyd’s neck. The charges could be enhanced to something more severe. The other three (now former) cops are facing criminal prosecution.

What happens now? My goodness. I am trying to fathom the gravity of what we have witnessed yet again in this nation. George Floyd now joins a long and distressing list of victims of police brutality.

The nation has acted with outrage before. People have rioted. They have destroyed property. Then the outward anger subsides. We return to the lives we knew. The cops also return to doing what they have done all along.

Then the cycle repeats itself with another incident such as the one that has gripped the nation.

I am mourning my country. I grieve for the good police officers who do their jobs diligently and with honor. I am pained by the rioting and the damage that has been done to business owners who have played no role in any of this madness. My heart breaks for African-American men and women who have been victimized and those fellow citizens of ours who live in fear that they might be next.

I also am angry at Donald Trump who decided to call Jacob Frey a “very weak radical left mayor.” Disgusting.

I am tired of feeling numb at the spasm of violence that has brought us once again to this flash point. When will this ever end?