The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

This week protests erupted across the nation after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by a police officer who used excessive force in restraining him. The protests have, sadly, turned into looting and rioting in many cities, and innocent business owners have suffered terribly because of people who use the occasion of well-deserved protests to exploit an opportunity to fulfill their greed. Dr. Martin Luther King would be ashamed of the stain these rioters are putting on the legitimate voice of protest against abuses of authority. 

As I watched the news of gathering protests, starting in Minnesota and spreading throughout the country, it occurred to me that these protests were about more than George Floyd's death. His death is tragic, and the officer or officers responsible should be held accountable. But these protests go deeper than this one incident. Yes, it's about systemic injustices that we see again and again played out in the news. Another unarmed black man is killed by police, and the authorities responsible are not held accountable. But it's deeper still. I see these protests as an outpouring of frustration against double standards present in our country. 

The first double standard is a racial one. People of color have suffered injustices in this country for hundreds of years, and the system designed to protect citizens against injustice not only fails to protect people of color, but it also inflicts some of these very injustices itself. When 1 in 106 white men are incarcerated in the United States but black men are incarcerated at a rate of 1 in 15, that stinks of an unjust system. Furthermore, those facing the death penalty or serving life or virtual life sentences are disproportionately black, by a wide margin. When two white men can gun down a black man, on camera (in Florida), and not be arrested for more than a month, and when a police officer can kill an unarmed black man and not be arrested until violent protests erupt, something is wrong with our "justice" system. 

Another double standard people are tired of is the double standard between people with power and those without. When political cronies are protected by powerful people or summarily pardoned when they are found guilty of a crime, or when laws are enforced against common citizens but not against those in power, something is wrong with our "justice" system. Common citizens protest, sometimes violently, when they see power abused by those who are supposed to uphold the rule of law. They protest because if it can happen to their neighbor, it can happen to them too. Both liberal and conservative commentators and politicians are already playing the blame game for the rioting. I've heard both sides blame extremist groups for organizing and fomenting these violent protests, as if the common citizen has nothing to be angry about. Our leaders, those in power, just don't get it. 

Reactions within prison to these protests are mixed. Most prisoners are sad to see their cities burn, but most also understand the frustration of the protesters. Only, we've seen how little changes for the better when light is shined on an unjust system. Soon, the protests will wind down, people will get back to their lives, and still nothing will change. "I can't breathe" will join the slogans "Hands up. Don't shoot" and "Black Lives Matter." They'll be just that--slogans chanted by frustrated citizens and exploited by self-serving politicians. But in the end, little will change. It's no wonder people are angry and frustrated.