The World is Tired of Hate

I got the title for this post from one of the T-shirts in my collection. It felt rather appropriate considering the state of things in the world today, especially in my home state of Minnesota.
I woke up on Tuesday morning to see my social media news feed filled with information regarding the death of George Floyd the night before. I saw a couple of the videos that were posted multiple times. I couldn't believe that something like that really happened in a town that I've been to many times for ballgames and concerts over the years.

Unfortunately, this is just one in a string of terrible situations in recent years that never should have occurred. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, the false claims of threats by Amy Cooper in New York's Central Park, the tragic shooting of Justine Ruszcyk by Somali-American police officer Mohamed Noor and several other incidents in the national news immediately came to mind.

Floyd was accused of forgery, a crime that would normally carry a sentence of one to five years in jail at most. From what I've seen, it didn't look like he was actively resisting arrest. It also didn't look like three police officers needed to hold him down. The officer kneeling on his neck drew the most scrutiny. I've learned from research that his particular technique is not taught or recommended in police office training because it's likely to cut off a person's air flow. It came across as cruel and unnecessary punishment to many people.

I understand the anger regarding this situation. Floyd didn't deserve to die for the crime he was accused of. I understand the anger that's been building up for a while now. I think that part of it has been due to frustrations from the changes and limitations brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. People have lost jobs, had their hours cut, been unable to enjoy sports and live music or sometimes even go to the doctor when they need to. Most of our lives have been thrown upside down.

What I don't understand and don't condone are the looting, vandalism and violence that have occurred after Floyd's death. I get the fact that people are pissed off and need to vent, but trashing businesses only makes the situation worse. It creates chaos and puts strain on the business owners and their employees. It also threatens people's sense of security. I'm very concerned about the safety of my friends and family members who live and work in the Twin Cities area right now.

I can see Floyd's situation as a racial attack. A black man was restrained and later died primarily because of the police officers' actions. There have been too many racist incidents all across the globe in recent years. I'm sure that there are many more incidents that haven't been in the news. Racism is wrong. It always has been, and it always will be.

It feels like there's been a growing sensation of hate in the world. I'm sure that there's many causes for this. People get fed up with others for various reasons. Differences only seem to fuel the fire for some of these problems.

I don't know what the answer is and I'm not going to offer a solution, because I can't. It's going to take more than just me to resolve the issues of racism and hatred.

Hate is also wrong, and I know that many people are tired of it. I understand why people hate others at times, but hate is something that's never been in my heart. There are people that I don't like, but I definitely don't hate them. I just remove myself from the equation and move on. Life's too short to be consumed by such negative thoughts and emotions anyway.

These are just my thoughts and opinions on the matter. They in no way reflect the thoughts or opinions of anyone else. I just felt like I had to say something, because I'm hopeful that we can eventually start making efforts to work on the issues at hand in a more constructive and positive manner.

That's all I have to say for now. I probably won't blog again until music and sports resume, whenever that may be. Until next time, take care and be good to one another.