The death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others is about flaws in the police system, yes. But it’s a bigger problem than that, and if we want to know the root cause, we probably should look in the mirror.
Check out this one-minute audio clip from a recent Fresh Air episode featuring an interview with Jamiles Lartey, a Journalist who writes about criminal justice, race and policing for the non-profit news organization ‘The Marshall Project’:
Jon Stewart shared similar thoughts in his recent New York Times Magazine interview:
Jamiles and Jon are right. It’s not “those rogue cops” it’s “us.” We’ve robbed people of their dignity, stolen their rights, denied them equality… or at bare minimum been a silent accomplice to these crimes against our shared humanity.
We’ve got to address the root issues. And while we’re at it, let’s not paint all police officers with a broad brush. Let’s not conflate peaceful protest with rioting. Let’s be thankful for the millions of brave men and women who uphold their oath to “serve and protect.”
Let’s look beyond the surface, the 30-second news clips, the shouting and the screaming and the finger-pointing… and let’s all (“we the people”) find ways to move our society toward those cherished ideals of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
You done said…