American Tragedy

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AMERICAN TRAGEDY

 I suppose, sadly, the above quote demonstrates how little the world has changed since the American Revolution. But wait—in actuality, it's changed monumentally. And yet certain people cling tenaciously to attitudes long shown to be heinous, attitudes scorned by the vast majority but which fester, mostly hidden, until encouraged by those in power. Appalling as it is, that is what is happening now. The racists, the bigots, the haters, the downright mean, have been freed by those at the very top of government to spew their beliefs without fear of hindrance, and George Floyd is not the only innocent person to pay for it with his life.

By now, we all know what happened in Minneapolis and the protests that followed, not just in the U.S. but around the world. The highly justified protests. Yes, some of the protests turned to violence, but much of that can be attributed to far more than an excess of passion. Among them: 1) the inevitable small minority that use any excuse to erupt into chaos; 2) a small criminal element intent on looting; 3) agents provocateurs of the alt-right, the alt-left & foreign interests intent on furthering their own causes by inciting peaceful protestors to violence. 

Basically, our Constitution acknowledges the right to peaceful protest, and for the most part that is what happened. As an example, there was very little violence in downtown Orlando—mostly confined to rock and bottle throwing, quickly shut down. For an important reason why, here is a photo that made the national news—the Orange County Sheriff and the Orlando Chief of Police taking a knee with protestors. (In neighboring Osceola County the police marched WITH the demonstrators.) 

Among all the heart-wrenching videos seen this past ten days, there was another moment I found particularly striking. Please take the time to watch this little girl repeating what she had obviously been told in an effort to comfort her for the death of her father.

For a video of George Floyd's young daughter proclaiming, "My daddy changed the world!" click here.


And lastly, because Covid 19 did not go away while we were mourning George Floyd, here is what I consider the Photo for Our Time (as much as I wish it were not). With none of our high school or college seniors able to enjoy a traditional graduation, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Nathan Aguirre took this photo of Deveonte Joseph against a backdrop of protestors. Take a moment to appreciate the message.

The Face of 2020

"The Face of 2020" was to be the end of this week's blog, but my son sent me two brand new photos which must be included. During the night of Thursday, June 4, the Department of Public Works of the City of Washington, D. C., painted on the street leading up to the White House:  BLACK LIVES MATTER. A brilliant idea, perfectly executed. 

That's the White House on the far right.

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Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (aka Blair Bancroft)