Anger Is Right. Rioting Is Wrong.
“We as a people are strongest when we use our voices to heal our city instead of using our hands to tear it down.”
This gets us nowhere.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
It’s impossible to watch the video of George Floyd dying — handcuffed, helpless, face down in the road, complaining he can’t breathe, as a Minneapolis police officer kneels on his neck for more than eight minutes — without feeling a surge of anger and incomprehension. Learning that the crime for which Floyd was apprehended was “forgery in progress” (he apparently bought cigarettes with a fake $20 bill) only adds to one’s sense of outrage.
Over the weekend, protests in many American cities turned into riots, the most widespread in decades. In places already stressed by the Covid-19 pandemic, violence and destruction surged out of control. The protesters’ anger is right; the rioters’ wanton disregard for the safety of their fellow citizens is inexcusable.