WS Chronicle

By Frederick Adams

“I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. In the final analysis, the riot is the language of the unheard. What is it that America has failed to hear?” – Martin Luther King Jr.

I am haunted by the image of George Floyd dying helplessly as a now-fired Minneapolis police officer suffocated him in broad daylight, while glaring nonchalantly and sinisterly into the faces of horrified onlookers and their camera phones. If you are not saddened, traumatized, or outraged about his death, ask yourself why are you emotionally absent about the killing of another unarmed black man who was not resisting arrest, posing no physical threat to a police officer, and whose life was obviously neither valued nor respected by the people who killed him.

In cities across America, Floyd’s death has sparked protests as well as riots. There has been support for the protesters, but not without criticism from people consumed with rioting, who also reject and ignore the criminal behavior that spawned these riots and what riots signify.   

While I do not condone destroying our neighborhoods, I also cannot condone anyone who selectively chooses how and when justice will be applied, while seemingly basing that determination upon the identity and status of the parties involved. Burning down a building will not cure the plague of police brutality, but neither will failing to hold police officers accountable.  

As a black man, I understand the outrage associated with feeling hopelessly disenfranchised, the sentiment of constantly being considered a second-class citizen, and the emotional resignation felt by certain segments of the population who seem to only receive attention when they conduct themselves in a manner that some people in society view as being menacing, threatening, or violent. 

However, many protesters are peaceful and non-confrontational to law enforcement officers. They are not burning down buildings or looting, and many of them are simply airing grievances about a never-ending problem – a system that has repeatedly failed, underserved, and disappointed black people. Furthermore, black people are not the only people acting violently.  

Therefore I urge you, the unbothered and unaffected, to be proactive toward building a better America. Take ownership of whether you are passively or actively participating in systemic racism. Stop electing people who disregard the concerns of black people, negligently or intentionally. Stop co-signing on ignorance and racial insensitivity in the name of partisanship. Stop pretending that black people are not being killed for jogging, sitting peacefully in our own homes, reaching for driver’s licenses during traffic stops, and for simply just existing. Stop championing a president who brands his campaign strategy and administration’s policy on division and then chastises us for not supporting him.  

Don’t hide behind the Bible, your so-called “Christian” values, and morals, when your actions and words do not reflect Jesus’ ethic and directly contrast with the compassion, love, and quest for equality that you falsely espouse as your guiding principles of life. We do not need more lectures or your judgment regarding emotions related to circumstances you have never been forced to experience. We need justice.

To achieve the best America possible, stand up with black people and step down from your lofty pedestal of privilege, examine yourself, and consider the origins of your biases and how vocal or silent you have been.  

Frederick Adams is a criminal defense attorney who lives in Clemmons and works in Winston-Salem. He is a native of Bluefield, Virginia, with a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice from Bluefield College and a law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.