11 June 2020
Sitting outside. A cup of decaf sits to the left of the computer. A black iPhone sits to the right. The light dances upon the table where I am pounded these words into sentences. Already I have two miles plus of walking under my belt. Breakfast is done and all the dishes are washed. Still-Always, the birdsongs. Also, the news from last night has been ingested from podcasts and the newsfeeds on my phone and iPad.
George Floyd has been buried. Even after the man whose death started this all was interred, there is a major rumbling and rattling of change ongoing. A wide swath of television and media personalities have been punted from jobs because people had taken screen shots of their racist posts, both current and older. Major companies have backed off allowing the police to use proprietary facial recognition software. I gather this is because they are afraid the government was compiling a database of protestors whether arrested or not. Also, there is an issue of the software not working well on blacks, Asians, women, children…well more than 50% of the population. Truly shocking is NASCAR abandoning the Confederate battle flag.
Government surveillance of protesters, well that is a not new concept. Wow though, facial recognition software, that is a new concept. Back when I was protesting the Vietnam war there were guys walking around campus demonstrations in Hawaiian shirts. Holding Pentax cameras, they attempted to photograph the protest participants in a grid. When you saw a camera swinging your direction you pulled your ball cap and sunglasses down and put your hand vertically in front of you nose. The actions of the threatened people in power don’t change, just their tools.
Apparently, the President is still having issues with white people trying to shed a long-cultured pattern of white entitlement. Even though his armed forces generals have suggested the renaming of military bases currently named for Confederate generals, people who spread bloodshed and played havoc with the very existence of our country, the renaming movement to him is a nonstarter. From reports he is resistant because of the value of tradition. However, tradition is a tricky thing. Black face and minstrel shows were traditions. It wasn’t until the 1970s the Mummers in Philadelphia jettisoned blackface. Traditions can be quite racist; tradition can be very hurtful. Some traditions just need to end.
The President is also cranky about the protests in Seattle, the protestors having set up an autonomous zone. Over his Egg McMuffins he has apparently been raging about this. He is tweeting it must be “stooped”. Once again, Mr. Trump is threatening to send in Federal troops to put the protest down. Must have been when he was busy suffering from his bone spurs, he missed all the building and park occupations against the Vietnam War. There were tent encampments in cities all over America set up in parks, peoples’ parks as they were known. Federal troops did not intervene.
Protests, every rowdy rock throwing events, are part of the long history of this nation. Just because protests are troubling and unruly, the use of Federal troops to quash protest is unwarranted. The first amendment gives the right to assembly to all Americans. Using Federal troops to stifle dissent is a major step toward authoritarian rule. The President, who has been more than happy to insist the states alone address a global pandemic-truly a national issue of health, safety and welfare, should keep his mouth shut about, and our Federal troops away from, these protests.
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