In recent days, all America has watched in horror as violent rioters have assaulted bystanders, smashed store windows and set vehicles ablaze in their sick quest to destroy all sense of peace and safety in our nation’s cities. These criminals have killed several of our fellow citizens and injured scores of others.
When you look in their faces and listen to their verbal tirades, you detect a cocky and cruel disregard for human life among these marauding miscreants. You might recall seeing that same smirking snarl somewhere else — in the expression of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
That’s because the menaces terrorizing our cities right now share much in common with the bad cops they claim to despise.
EX-CINCINNATI MAYOR KEN BLACKWELL: LEADERS IN OUR CITIES HAVE A DUTY TO DO THIS
Peaceful protesters and even those practicing nonviolent civil disobedience can lay rightful claim to standing in the time-honored tradition of change agents working to make American society better.
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But that’s not the case for the out-of-control mobs rampaging through our streets, looting, pillaging and injuring their neighbors. By their blatant disregard for life and property, they have cast aside any right to be taken seriously.
And if these rioters don’t quickly and willingly come down off their moral high horses — and cease and desist their illegal activities as their crimes are investigated and prosecuted — then we as a nation must use all appropriate force at our disposal to yank them from their proverbial saddles.
Once we re-establish law and order in our cities, then we can tend to the rightful business of addressing the legitimate issues that have prompted the much-justified concerns of not only peaceful protesters but indeed of all Americans of goodwill.
We still need to move beyond the most troubling aspects of our history and embrace a new and brighter future.
Black Americans have many legitimate grievances. After all these years, overcoming the legacy of slavery and discrimination remains a great challenge for America. We still need to move beyond the most troubling aspects of our history and embrace a new and brighter future.
“We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now," said the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Rather than living as part of “the black community” or “the white community,” we need someday — if race relations are ever to reach the place we want them to be — to all truly feel part of the same American community, where there is the same justice, the same opportunity and the same rights for all.
Very soon, we need to hold a deeper discussion about these aspirations and the obstacles lying in our path. That’s why I am working to organize a “Forum on Race and Justice” here in Indiana and reaching out to partners nationwide to help coordinate an even broader conversation.
For now, though, first things first.
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We must take back our streets from the opportunistic predators hell-bent on diverting our attention from the kind of constructive dialogue that could lead to real progress.
Just as we cannot let bad cops define law enforcement, neither can we let violent rioters define the crusade for racial justice.
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