Can there be a positive outcome when a man loses his life? Is it possible for a tragedy to improve the conditions of my fellow Americans?
These are questions a simpleton like me can't possibly answer. But they are still worth contemplating as this country moves past the sad, and far too familiar, story of George Floyd and his murder by a police officer.
First, let's state the obvious: there are too many police interactions in our country that end with a dead body. The color of that body is not relevant to this observation. When a police call or traffic stop ends with a dead suspect, we have a failure in policing
The job of policing is to maintain the peace, protect the innocent and enforce laws. There honestly aren't many higher callings for a member of the community. It takes a special person to be able to carry the responsibility of community peacemaker and protector because those two duties often contradict one another.
In simpler terms, sometimes being a protector means peace is the last thing you're making. Our history is filled with times when an officer of the law stepped up and averted imminent disaster with quick action and good aim.
We applaud those brave community servants, as we should.
Unfortunately, in our recent memory, too many incidents match the George Floyd situation. An innocent person, or at least a person who deserved a fair trial, is snuffed by an officer of the law. During the trial of the man who killed George Floyd, we witnessed at least two similar situations of white police officers killing a person of color in very questionable situations.
For the majority of homogenous Pike Countians, 'black lives matter' is an easy concept to question. Don't all lives matter? Well, of course they do, but we haven't done a very good job of living that idea. Frankly, many of us need to be reminded daily that black lives matter because so few of us know or associate with anyone of color.
I'm not suggesting there's something wrong with us for that. Our region is literally 97% caucasion, so if we do have friends or associates who aren't caucasion it's likely we know them from another place we've lived or visited. If someone has never been out of the holler, their circle of acquaintances are going to be small.
For far too long, many of us have acted in a way that requires us to be reminded black lives matter. Slavery was an accepted form of capitalism in the European history of this continent for more time than it wasn't. Seeing a human as a slave is the definition of seeing a life that doesn't matter at all.
In the case of the murderer of George Floyd, guilty on all counts was the only verdict that could lead to a yes on either of the questions we began with. Many of us believe it was an easy call, but those who've sat on a jury know it is never as easy as it looks.
It's way too early to say we're on the right track. But the fact no buildings are burning this morning means there's hope.