By Chris Finnie
I can’t speak for all the white people who protested police killings of black Americans. But I was heartened to see them in Santa Cruz, Felton, Boulder Creek, and around the world. It reminds me of the famous quotation from Martin Niemöller, a German Lutheran pastor. Though he changed it to fit the audience in various lectures, this is believed to be the original:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
He believed that Germans had been complicit in the Nazi imprisonment and murder of millions of people, simply through their silence.
I Could Not Be Silent
I have seen this for too long: I watched Watts burn as a teenager. I have read of too many deaths in too many places: yesterday the California attorney general announced an investigation into the Vallejo police department after a young, unarmed Latino man was killed on his knees with his hands up. I have heard too many promises that were later broken: the Minneapolis City Council just banned chokeholds that have already been banned before.
Black Deaths Matter
USA Today says, “With a lack of available government data, Mapping Police Violence is one of a few efforts to track information on police violence and use of force. The researchers behind the project compile details on deaths known to be caused by police.” The article notes that, “Even after a 4% decline from 2018, the number of deaths due to police harm in 2019 [was] 1,099. 54% of those who died as a result of harm from police and whose race was identified were people of color.”
These are people who look different than me. But they are not.
They are people who want the “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” promised in the Declaration of Independence. They are people who believe that the line “that all men are created equal” applies to them too. And they are right.
Police Reflect Problems of Society
There are good people in the police and National Guard. The police chief in Santa Cruz was interviewed on national TV after he and the mayor took a knee with protestors. He wasn’t the only one.
But police are overwhelmed with demands to handle social problems they’re not equipped or trained to deal with. They’re justifiably afraid of an over-armed populace. A county sheriff was killed just yesterday. Two Santa Cruz police officers were killed a few years ago. All were doing their jobs trying to protect the public. I’d be scared witless in their shoes.
But, in some, that fear and frustration can turn to anger. And certainly we’ve seen enough examples of that in the past week too. Of police who violated the rights of protestors instead of protecting them. Who demonstrated the very overreaction that is the point of the protests.
Politicians Use Hate To Divide Us
These last weeks, we’ve also seen politicians use the same tactics politicians used in Germany in the 1930s. Germany was reeling from the emotional and economic impacts of their defeat in World War I. Politicians “blamed” various groups for their defeat. That ploy helped suppress any opposition to the wholesale imprisonment and killing of Jews, gypsies, gays, and the disabled.
Today, the president and attorney general of the United States are trying to “blame” antifa and left-wing groups for violence. They’re portraying peaceful protestors as a threat. And berating mayors and governors who oppose their militarized response.
I cannot stand for that.
But I can stand with my neighbors, and stand up for the equality of all. And I did. It was the least I could do
