FEBRUARY 27, 2021 – Yesterday evening our five-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter was working hard at a life-size drawing of “make believe” on a large sheet of paper. When I approached, she waved me off. “You’re not allowed to look yet, Grandpa!” she said, “It’s not done yet.”
Obediently, I repaired to a nearby chair to continue my journey into Parting the Waters. (See 1/10, 1/22, 2/16 posts.) For me, the title has morphed into Plumbing the Depths, as I grapple further with my ignorance of American history.
As our granddaughter concentrated on “make believe,” I focused on “try to believe” . . . that the divide of yesteryear was greater than today’s.
Peaceful student sit-ins across the South in 1960 protested segregation at every-day lunch counters—just one aspect of Jim Crow, which was the law of the South. The students met invariably with hateful reactions by the white establishment. Sadly, older Blacks, fearful of setbacks in the quest for equality, often reacted with confused regret and disapproval of the sit-ins.
I was six in 1960 and oblivious to the depth of discrimination across America, but no less so than I would be at 26, 36, 46 . . . and beyond.
Then came the infamous police shooting of Philando Castile within walking distance of our quiet, leafy neighborhood. I began scratching the surface of the history of racial injustice in America.
More recently was the killing of George Floyd, Jr.—within an easy drive from our house—and the destructive reaction that swept within an even closer drive. Now, in anticipation of protests surrounding the trials of the policemen involved in the “police-knee-on-Black-man’s neck,” downtown Minneapolis will become a heavily guarded, DO NOT ENTER zone. Only now am I “plumbing the depths” of the racial divide in American history.
The case against the police in the upcoming trials is “a hard one to win,” according to the chief prosecutor, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. (Note to Ellison: In hedging people’s expectations, don’t prejudice potential jurors.) Hyper-technical legal and factual issues abound. They harbor “due process,” which is essential to “the rule of law.” Yet, as with the judgments at Nuremberg and Tokyo (See 2/23 and 2/25 posts), all that media and the public care about are verdicts and sentences. “Guilty” and harsh punishment equal “justice” in the minds of many. Anything short will trigger negative reactions—which will set off yet another cycle of outrage and counter-outrage. If violence ensues, truth will be the first casualty, especially given the spectrum of motivations—from genuine anger and frustration over long-standing racial discrimination to sheer opportunism (burning and looting for the fun and profit of it) to white supremacist agitation attempting to spark civil war.
On trial in the matter of George Floyd, Jr. will be far more than a police knee on a Black guy’s neck. It will be American history.
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Eventually our granddaughter announced, “Okay, Grandpa, my picture is done. You can look now!” As I did, I wondered—when will racial justice in America “be done”?
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© 2021 by Eric Nilsson
