A hundred or so years ago, the First World War happened. Ironically, it was a situation that started with a murder, creating a chain reaction that then spiraled, that included multiple nations getting involved, and things got so crazy that people wondered if the war was going to end, or if the world was going to end before that. Fast forward to the year 2020, and things have spiraled once again, beginning with the recorded murder of Ahmaud Arbery, that surfaced in March even though it happened in February, and most recently, a second recorded murder of another black man named George Floyd, this time by a police officer, even though George was not resisting arrest. Even now, there have been peaceful protesters in Minneapolis which is where George was from, but there have also been rioters who are ravaging the city that I called home for two years. And lately, I’m starting to wonder the same thing that everyone else was a hundred or so years ago: will the world end first before the madness does? Another question I must ask: what kind of legacy are we focused on having as a whole? Our history is one that is flawed, because everyone is flawed. But history must be acknowledged so that the same mistakes don’t happened again. We shouldn’t just acknowledge it, but then still repeat it, hoping to give it a different name.
I fear for the children of our future. Will they be sitting in class one day and be shown the murders caught on video, of people destroying and burning down an entire city, and all they’ll feel is shame that we stooped so low but chose to stay there? Or will they see that disturbing archival footage and decide “never again”? We have a responsibility; a duty of care if you will. We must care for each other, no matter what race or skin color someone else is. No one deserves to be treated differently by anyone else, police officer or no. Lin Manuel Miranda defines the word “legacy” perfectly: planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. Being stewards of this “garden”, we must take care. Are we going to generate shame and fear years from now because of past actions, or are we going to get our crap together, and sit down and talk? I hope it’s the second option, because it’s time to start talking about change but doing it productively. In times of crisis, it doesn’t make sense that beautiful things and people deserve to be burned, or torn down, or killed. That’s not how asking for change works. Change isn’t repetition, it’s making a difference. Before it’s too late, I hope we realize that before Minneapolis is turned into another version of No Man’s Land. Please, for all of our sakes, choose change. Do it and someone else will follow the example. Maybe then we can start making different decisions and learn from them.
