The events of recent days have been revolting and heartbreaking. First the killings of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by police in Louisiana and Minnesota and then Thursday’s shocking assassination of five police officers in Dallas. Seven officers and two civilians were injured by a sniper who opened fire at what had been a peaceful protest.
Americans, many of whom watched videos of these tragic events unfolding, are left with questions and conflicting feelings. Is it possible to condemn police brutality but also be angry and mournful at the murder of police officers? The answer, of course, is yes. Both are wrong. Both have no place in America.
At a difficult and confusing time, we turn to leaders, past and present, who, in words wiser than we can write, offer solace and guidance as we negotiate the difficult days ahead.
Take Robert Kennedy’s remarks at what was to be a campaign rally in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968, the day Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death: “In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black — considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible — you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
“We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization — black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love.”
Or King’s own remarks from his December 1964 lecture upon winning the Nobel Peace Prize: “Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert.
“Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.”
On Friday, President Barack Obama, who was travelling in Poland, sought to reassure Americans after the police murders in Dallas, which he called “a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement.”
“There is no possible justification for these kinds of attacks or any violence against law enforcement,” the president said.
At the same time, he reiterated concerns about racial disparities in our criminal justice system.
“For now, let me just say that even as yesterday I spoke about our need to be concerned, as all Americans, about racial disparities in our criminal justice system, I also said yesterday that our police have an extraordinarily difficult job and the vast majority of them do their job in outstanding fashion. … Today is a wrenching reminder of the sacrifices that they make for us. We also know that when people are armed with powerful weapons, unfortunately it makes attacks like these more deadly and more tragic. And in the days ahead, we’re going to have to consider those realities as well.”
In Maine, Gov. Paul LePage offered these words: “This targeted and hateful attack is the epitome of evil. Our nation is built on a foundation of freedoms, not hatred. Times like these determine a nation’s character, and as Americans we have a responsibility to uphold our integrity and beliefs through strong leadership. We will not stand for acts of violence of this nature, and we as a people will rise up to unite and trust that justice will be served to those who commit such violence against our society.”