The murder of George Floyd has struck a chord with the world. It has created a spark, which has ignited the tinder ignored for decades. Unfortunately, unconscious bias, racism, and racial stereotyping exist. My hope is this movement will create the needed changes and initiate conversations for understanding and acceptance.
I am all for civil disobedience, freedom of speech, and the right to protest. There were thousands who came to Walnut Creek and peacefully protested. The key words are “civil” and “peaceful.” I deplore the few opportunists who choose to loot our cities. They dilute the message of the peaceful protestors and reinforce the opinion of those who are already biased or racist, and cause the police to be more vigilant. To be clear, I believe looting here and nationwide has mostly been done by outside agitators and opportunists who are not associated with the peaceful movement itself.
I live very close to downtown, and the night the looting occurred, I worried rioters would come into my neighborhood and I considered what I would do. The next day, there were some emails asking what we could do to keep our neighborhood safe if that happened. This photo was sent out. I suspect the police were preventing anybody from looting Kaiser, which is directly behind them, but also the main access to my neighborhood. The next night, when I heard helicopters, I felt safer and appreciated the police who are there to protect, though some heavy-handed police actions across the nation has made people skeptical about their intentions. The police, as a general entity, obviously have issues to fix. Their main duty is to serve and protect, and most do that admirably.
As a result of the looting on Monday, our beautiful town of Walnut Creek is boarded up. My heart also goes out to all the businesses who had to shut down or restrict their business activities due to the mandated shelter-in-place. They now have had to protect their businesses by boarding up the windows or repairing damage caused by the looting. The downtown area was closed off for a few days and there are very few who are wandering down there. Please continue to support them in whatever way you can. The day after the looting, many residents came downtown to help clean it up. Kudos to all who did. I only heard about it afterward – otherwise, I would have been there too.
I debated about posting this because there is fear in sharing it. Fear that I will say something wrong, offend somebody, or not say enough. I believe we all have a voice and we should express it when something is a concern and stand up for what is right. This is what protesting is all about and we should stand up for what we believe in. Our voices should be heard. Vote. Strive to make a change for good. Be heard.
I will end this with a quote by James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
