The gut-wrenching images of Officer Derek Chauvin terrorizing and slowly killing George Floyd haunt me. Most officers understand they are peacekeepers who protect and serve their communities and are not prosecutors, judges, juries, or executioners, but Chauvin didn’t. Bad apples are often strong personalities who contaminate, influence, intimidate, and subdue others. All must remember both the accused and the officer are members of the community.
Thankfully, the spirit of MLK still fills the hearts of most protesters, but a small number who see hope, opportunity and the means to a good life slipping away fall prey to the urging of violent and charismatic agitators. When a cause has unmitigated injustices, violence can spread like a virus.
In encounters with the police and the legal systems, white, wealthy, powerful, influential, and well-connected individuals often buy better outcomes than poor, powerless, and minority folks. Our inspirational Preamble promises justice for all, but the words, interpretations, and applications of our Constitution and laws fall short. Injustices are obvious, not only in the killings, but also in the GOP’s successes in disenfranchising hundreds of thousands.
Acting on the promises of the Preamble is centuries overdue.
