Damned if We Do Damned if We Don’t
Written By : Stesha Spartakos
America is in the midst of the biggest cry for help. Small businesses fear looters, citizens must stay inside, and if you say anything about how unlawful or horrible these riots are you are immediately a target for any form of harassment the other side sees fit. The punishment on the nation does not fit the crime committed by one sociopathic cop and his cowardice officers that watched the situation.
The protests started peacefully and soon became violent, and the simple truth is there was no just reason for such violent affairs to appear. It is now apparent that those involved in these horrendous acts are either taking advantage of an opportunity or simply so starved for disaster that they assume destroying the communities they are in is perfectly just. But it isn’t. One man died and now we must destroy an environment, destroy precincts, destroy anything that allows people to feel safe because one man didn’t receive justice.
Many cities/counties are experiencing the negative effects of these protests that started peaceful gone violent. No one is allowed to point out how wrong and out of line the situation has become, especially if that person happens to be lighter than the “affected” group. The moment that innocent bystanders and shop owners, families, and just in general good people are harmed the acts must be admitted to being wrong.
In Riverside, CA there were some warning white people to stay inside because if they didn’t, they were an instant target and therefore wanting to be attacked. What happened to “We’re All in This Together?” did it magically disappear when—again I say this—a sociopath and weak men allowed a man to die after grotesquely stepping out of line in detainment of a suspect. Communities are now being torn apart and we’re supposed to stay quiet? Say nothing until it passes? Just because its better if we ignore the situation.
Let us not forget, the man who was detained was using counterfeit currency and resisting arrest. However, unanimously the nation agreed the officer who committed this heinous act was completely guilty, out of line and therefore needed proper punishment. Yet in response citizens began burning down cities, stealing from their community, and destroying whatever stood in their way because Afterall what’s a tantrum without going over the top.
How many lives have to be destroyed? How many cops must be harassed? How many people have to live in fear because of a tantrum made by a small group with very loud voices? Not every person involved in the protests turned riots are violent or vengeful, but their cause is drowned out by those who would rather hurt others in order to gain a trending status and instill fear in our nation.
The state of the nation is disgusting and remains so as long as our citizens continue to tarnish what it means to be American. We are proud of our country, we learn from our mistakes, we stand with our communities, we help in any way possible through every disaster, we allow the freedom of religion and speech; we are the greatest country in the world. But “a house divided against itself cannot stand” (Abraham Lincoln). So why are allowing hate groups and a small percentage of bad cops divide us all when the only thing we all want is true JUSTICE for EVERY crime committed?
Why is it now we are damned if we call out the bad behavior stemming from the riots along with how out of line Derek Chauvin was, and damned if we don’t blindly agree.