I Cannot Let it be

I was going to title today’s blog post “Let it Be.” It was going to be about accepting the turning of the seasons and other things we cannot change. Unfortunately the murder of a black man in Minneapolis by police officers this week is an event that I need to speak out about instead. The more I think about the senseless murder of George Floyd Monday night, the more

I Cannot Let it be

without speaking out about how wrong it was.

There comes a time when silence is betrayal. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Repeatedly on the nightly news I watched the video of the police officer brutally holding a man down with his knee on the man’s neck. I heard the man being held down say, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breath.” And I heard onlookers urge the police officers to check the man’s pulse. I kept watching the video as one officer kept his knee on another man’s neck, even after the man stopped speaking or moving, and another officer paced around without showing an ounce of concern for the man whose neck was under the other man’s knee. This went on and on and on with the police officer ignoring the man’s cries, “Please, I can’t breathe. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. They’re going to kill me,” ignoring the pleading of onlookers to check on the victim’s physical status.

Had onlookers not videoed this incident, the report of the man’s death would be very different. As I understand it from news reports, the officers’ report of his death is quite different from what we saw in the video, citing “underlying health issues” as the cause of the man’s death.

I am a white person and I won’t even pretend to understand what is like to be a black person in America. But I am also a human being and I can imagine feeling fear for a son or daughter, for a brother or a sister, for a mother or a father in a country where it seems it is unsafe to simply be who you are. What I can’t imagine is living with this kind of fear day-in and day-out. Yet for many people of color in America this is the reality. My heart is heavy today with the events that are unfolding in my city.

I cannot walk in the shoes of black people in America but I can speak out.

I Stand Here Today with all others Demanding Change

The world saw this event and people of conscience everywhere are speaking out. I add my voice to their number. I want justice for George Floyd. Arrest the officers who so callously took his life. Being black should not be a death sentence. George Floyd’s life mattered.

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows
That too many people have died?

   — Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind

May justice prevail.