Freedom, in our representative republic, is never pretty. It is dirty, ugly, ever changing and very much worth standing for. The louder the yelling the harder it is to hear. We have the right to yell and an obligation to listen, no matter how loud. The past weeks have again ripped at our cultural fabric and that is OK. This country was created by those fighting for their rights and equality from tyranny; and the fight continues, and our republic grows stronger with diversity.

There are unique differences between the riots spawned from M.L. King’s assassination (1968) and Rodney King’s beating (1991). Today’s marches and demonstrations are not monochrome. The demonstrations are racially, generationally, gender and culturally diverse. Aspects of our country are coming together with a resounding rejection of racism and racial targeted abuse. Unfortunately, their voices are being drowned out by those willing to tear down and loot rather than march for change. Will we stand in front of our neighbors stores and shops and protect them from looters and vandals? Or will we allow the lowest among us to steal our opportunity to make real and substantive changes to our republic. We hear: ‘the killing was terrible, the looting MUST stop’; we should hear: ‘the looting is terrible, the killing MUST stop’. What if the looting is the manifestation of pent up anger and frustration because of the killing?

Ordering federal troops “to restore order” is a sign of failure. The Insurrection Act was intended to ensure federal law was being upheld in the states. The act was used by Lincoln to establish the legal basis for the Civil War and by Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, who in defiance of the state governors of Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, deployed troops to ensure federal desegregation laws were enforced. The threat to invoke the act to quell people exercising their rights juxtaposed to the past actions is a sad statement of leadership. Maybe the potential of marshaling of troops against citizens is why our founders included the Second Amendment. They lived with and fought foreign tyranny and feared domestic tyranny would be a death blow to the fundamental freedoms they sought.

Sadly ironic, the one thing law enforcement officers and minorities have in common is the fear of not knowing if they will return safely home as they leave every morning. It is a poor statement of a civil society when this is an aspect of equality. Sunset the legal doctrine of Qualified Immunity and have law enforcement be held to the same standards as all citizens. In some circles that would be called equality.

Ultimately it comes down to each one of us, individually. Looking deep within ourselves, rather than looking at others. Regardless of your race, like it or not, there is a little bit of Amy Cooper and Derek Chauvin in all of us. We all have some fear, uncertainty, mistrust, cynicism and skepticism. We were not born with them; we grew up with them and learned them. They are an undeniable part of us which we must unlearn. We have seen in the last few days the dark shadows these can cast. We have also seen the bright light of cross racial solidarity and compassion.

Just because you think you treated someone fairly, does not mean you treated them with equality. You can also commit injustice by doing nothing. Let’s commit to do something we’ve never done before: Make America Equal. #NeverFearTheDream

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