Who are you speaking to when you post criticism of looting and riots?
The answer is probably nobody because your friends and acquaintances aren't the ones doing it. Despite what you see, it's a small group of people causing a large amount of destruction. The rest are making an honorable attempt at being heard over your ineffectual voice. You denounce looting? What a powerful and bold statement (sarcasm inserted.)
Is your critique of their methods reaching those who smashed and grabbed at Nike?
Looters aren’t the problem, you are.
You are more angry about broken glass than you are about your neighbor being innocently killed by police officers. That much is clear. But ask yourself why that is?
You made a choice to ignore a crime against humanity so you can voice your displeasure with petty criminals that annoy you.
If you were the type of person to be as angry about George Floyd being killed as you are about the looting, then the looting likely wouldn’t be happening in the first place.
There have been references to the peaceful protests conducted by Martin Luther King Jr, noting the “proper” way to voice your frustrations. What people should be referencing is a quote by Dr. King, “ A riot is the language of the unheard.” Over 60 years later and we still have deaf ears all around us. The fact that we still need to reference the great Dr. King is a problem in and of itself. Whatever’s been done between then and now hasn’t worked. It’s clear that people are being killed solely because of the color of their skin and people are angry about it. If you can’t take the time to acknowledge that before hitting send on your post about Target getting looted, then you are part of the problem.
Nobody should be naive enough to think that there will be a day when no racism exists. It will always be with us. The key is to minimize its effects on society by recognizing when it rears its ugly head and limiting its place among those in authority. That starts in two places, ourselves and in law enforcement. If our first line of defense against all things evil is itself infected with a disease, then we’re all infected one way or another. If you liken yourself to be someone who accepts all races equally, then check yourself when processing what’s going on around you.
Does any rational person condone looting? No. But a rational person can understand why it’s taking place. The Nike store on Michigan Avenue being destroyed doesn’t change the cold hard fact that George Floyd of St. Louis Park, Minnesota is dead.