Civil Unrest and the Death of Innocence
Part Two – Civil Unrest and the Death of Innocence – St. Paul & Minneapolis
The thousands of peaceful protests have ended, the people have gone home.
The looters and rioters have vented their anger mostly in the dark of the night, they too have gone home.
The television stations have the option to feature those promoting peace and justice or those that have wrought havoc.
Having just spent the weekend in the Twin Cities it felt important to set out and get a sense of the events that have just occurred .
I went on a ten or twelve my bike ride to view the damage.
The damage was done by angry people, angry people breaking the law.
The people were made angry by a seriously broken contract of social justice.
It was late afternoon and I walked a block away onto Larpenter St. in St. Paul and there I met an exceedingly pleasant couple. (I needed to meet some people that were handling this event with some grace and reflection.)
Ashley and Cat Weller live in St. Paul.
They have an adopted family of color.
When the violence erupted they naturally put up a sign that suggested “Black Lives Matter”.
The following morning their son brought into their home a note that had been rolled up and placed on their door.
It was a note that demanded they take down their “Black Lives Matter” sign or else they would burn down their home. The note also suggested other vile things.
This Charming couple had never been anything but “Minnesota Nice” and model citizens in this beautiful city and now they were being threatened with arson.
Being rational people they took this note seriously.
The following day another note was found by their garage saying “we have you on every side.”
It is clear that the societial fabric of this community has been torn asunder.
It is a social phenomenon that has unfortunately been fomented by some in the highest places of power.
The good news in all of this is that Ashley and Cat are rational, optimistic and quite delightful people.
They have lost sleep worrying about fire bombs because they think “Black Lives Matter”, their family matters, their children matter.
They have boarded up the windows on their home in fear of continued harassment… with limited help from law enforcement.
In fairness law enforcement has a full plate at this time and their home is not currently burning.
A curious social awareness is occurring during their time of need.
Neighbors from all over St. Paul are coming to their rescue and now post twenty four hour vigils.
Neighbors are starting to take notes of cars without license plates driving through the neighborhoods.
The neighbors recognize the cause of social justice and “Black Lives Matter” signs are posted throughout the neighborhoods and city. People care about Black Lives and people care about Cat and Ashley and their family.
Ashley and Cat have distributed hundreds of signs and they can be seen throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul…..ten and twenty per block beyond their immediate neighborhood.
In the middle of the night Ashley gets up because she hears a noise and peeks out of their boarded windows, it is a neighbor that they hardly knew five days ago.
The neighbor is standing guard over them and their family, it is his guard shift at 2 a.m.
Their neighbors have offered security, security cameras, fire extinguishers and most importantly observance and vigilance.
The neighborhood has never been more cohesive, people have come together to counter white nationals and white supremacy.
This couple inspires me to realize that there are still caring and empathetic people in this community.
I suspect that they (Cat and Ashley) are an integral part of this new cloth being woven into the fabric of this awakening society.
The city, the states, the nation has new concerns and new awakenings.
We must come to acknowledge the disparities in peoples lives.
Cat and Ashley distribute another hundred signs as people leave donations to help offset their costs.
We have come to realize that the police need policing, as revealed in Minneapolis.
Professional police need the help of the public to rid itself of their bad apples.
Law enforcement can’t just quit or call in sick because they are having a bad day or else they themselves lose their credibility.
Looters and rioters are still bad and without justification.
Alas, The Public must help, with this latest murder we realize the inability of law enforcement to cleanse themselves of these unrighteous and unprofessional officers that continue to serve.
Police murdering innocent people is a broken societal promise.
We should all be haunted.
We have given them their guns, their armor, their badge, their power.
Professional law enforcement needs the support of the public.
Law enforcement that doesn’t want the scrutiny of the public isn’t wholesome.
The public also needs some visible support from law enforcement.
What will it take to find justice and what will it take to find absolution?
It will take people and neighbors willing to help Cat and Ashley take the boards off their windows. Their signage is free speech. Allow them to live in peace.
It will take people willing to recognize the efforts of “professional” policemen in hope that they would once again like nothing more than to become “peace officers”.
billkeitel.com