---First point---
Some say: No justice, no peace. Black Lives Matter. I can't breathe.
Some say: Destructive rioting is always wrong. All Lives Matter. Don't destroy your own community.
But which comes first? It's a chicken-and-egg problem. How do we move forward when each side demands change of the other?
Someone has to go first. Someone has to show that the other side's grievances are being heard and things are being done to make our future better. In other words, someone has to lead.
I personally think the leadership has to come from those with the greatest power (in this case, defined as access to the most lethal force). That's the law enforcement community.
We as a society have to show--no, have to prove--to our fellow citizens of ALL stripes that we care about them and want injustice to stop. We all need to do this. Black and white, brown and yellow, catholic and muslim, protestant and jew and athiest, rural and urban, old and young.
It's on all of us to show that. To show we care for each other.
I think this is more or less what CJP and the lads who spoke were saying. At least, the more insightful of them, those who can see and understand both sides of the issue.
So yes, I absolutely support their message. It's part of the way forward.
---Second point---
Ideally, all people in a position of power, particularly the police and other law enforcement agents who have the extraordinary authority to wield deadly force, immediately begin to treat all their fellow citizens with the same care and respect they would give to their own children. No one dies of a knee on the neck then. No one gets shot out of fear then.
Ideally, all those who protest injustice do so without violence, and without destruction, and without a desire to bring about anarchy. No innocent shop owner's livelihood is destroyed then. No one's home is gutted then.
But we don't live in an ideal world. There will always be "that one." The policeman with hate eating at his guts, who might be racist, who might be misogynist, who violates the values his uniform stands for. And on the other side, the anarchist who brings a baseball bat, a knife, a shotgun, or a gas can to a protest, just looking for a chance to use it.
So we, as a society, have to recognize that evil exists in the occasional twisted individual--on both sides. We can't condemn every police agency everywhere because of one sick individual. We can't condemn every young black man everywhere because of one violent criminal. We can't condemn every protester everywhere because of one crazed anarchist in their midst.
Instead, the police forces of our nation police themselves better. Find and remove the sicko before he can hurt anyone. The communities of our country stand up more strongly against their own bad apples; restore community values. And when we do gather to protest or otherwise express ourselves, we collectively refuse to shield the one among us carrying the weapon.
It will take everyone, on every side, helping to police themselves, so that things don't go off the rails.
We're never gonna live in an ideal world. But it can be a heck of a lot better than it is now, if we all _first_ put our own houses in order.
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Sorry, I rambled on. Been thinking about these two points, particularly the latter, for several days now, and this is the best i've been able to come up with so far. It's a tough issue.
Go Vols!
