May 31 Racial Tensions in America

America is on fire.

America is burning with the flames of another chapter in its centuries-old battle between black and white. The media has taken a break from the non-stop coverage of covid19. Our news media has been hijacked by the riots in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police. There have been six days of protests in all the major cities of the US. These protests have turned violent and fires are being lit in the downtown areas. In Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, the police station was burned down.

I watched the footage of the riots, the damage caused was by a select few. Most protesters were peaceful and orderly. It seems like the violent ones were planted. They were there for one reason, to cause chaos and destruction. Strangely the violent protesters were covered in black and some appeared to be white. This turbulence in our time of covid is far from black and white.

Yesterday there was a peaceful march in downtown Seattle. They estimated there were ten thousand protesters that marched a few blocks to city hall. These people were very peaceful and even spoke to the police without confrontation. A few blocks away another group were smashing windows, setting fires and stealing. The two groups were marching with different orders and with differing agendas. I wonder if anyone in these large groups has the virus? There is no physical distancing happening there. Will this prove the health officials right?

In Vancouver, Montreal and other Canadian cities there was a protest in sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement in the States today. After over two months of self-isolation and no income, people are getting restless. In America, people are getting angry. It took the killing of an innocent black man by a white policeman for the anger to spill over into the streets. Fortunately in Canada, the protests have remained peaceful. For now.

There is anger and fear in the streets of America and it is time for people to become accountable. It is time for real change to occur. In Canada we have the same problem; it’s the native population that gets treated differently by the police. We need better training, better communication and most importantly we need better understanding. Canada’s inequalities linger just below the surface. America’s has erupted once again.

The Clown in chief in the White House is making things worse. Trump is stoking the fires by blaming Antifa, a mythical left-wing group. Antifa is only heard of when Trump and his ilk look to blame someone. I suspect there have been intentional agitators that have caused the violence. It’s quite possible they were more on the right-wing extremist side. Planted to incite violence and discredit the peaceful marchers demanding real change. Trump should be uniting his country, he should be condemning what the police officer did and speak to those people in pain. Instead, the president sits on the sidelines and tweets like the twit he is. It is sad days indeed.

We go to the top of the road for our evening walk again. I gain peace and perspective gazing into the distance. I fill my soul with the breathtaking view of the Okanagan Lake and Little White Mountain. It brings me back to the great fortune that we have, living in our corner of the world. We are blessed to be away from the big cities. Away from the turmoil, the violence that is rocking our neighbours to the south.

Humanity must survive this crisis. I hope that all races can come together in peace. I hope that the inequalities will be narrowed by the virus. It appears the opposite is happening. We are in the crux of a massive change. I continue to hope that the change will be for the better. I hope it can be attained without too much pain.