As riots and violence took over in cities across the US this week, people voiced their dismay, and I heard the voice of Martin Luther King calling out from the past. Some people not only heard his voice, they took action, but sadly, they were few in number.
I have watched many videos, and here are the things I’ve seen.
Anarchists fomenting violence.
Provocateurs inciting others to violence and looting
Weak-minded people who may not have been violent on their own joining in the looting
People destroying other people’s lives by beating and killing
Black people looting black-owned businesses
White Antifa training people how to inflict maximum pain and damage on others
But then there were signs of what I already knew – that black people, just like everyone else, are not all the same.
I saw a black man and woman trying to salvage what they could of the business they had built over many years, that had just been looted and destroyed by idiots.
I saw black women railing against BLM and others who want to destroy everything. I saw a black mother shouting at, beating and slapping her son who was dressed in a hoodie, joining in the destruction of his own neighborhood.
I saw black men risking their own lives to stop people attacking others, stopping white provocateurs smashing windows.
I saw black protestors turning over an Antifa provocateur to the police.
These few things gave me hope that here were people to hold a conversation with.
There are many things to say about all this, but more important than anything I could possibly say, are the words of Martin Luther King. These are just a very few of his words, and they are important.
.” .. [I]n spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.” – Martin Luther King
