Sure we had toy guns and ran around pointing them at each other!! AND we knew way deep down inside that if we EVER touched a real gun, our dads would blister our ass like there was no tomorrow. There was no such thing as back-talking ANY adult, let alone a cop!!
When the "big" riots hit in 1967, I was 11 years old.
It was a completely different time. Cops did not have the threat of being out-gunned by teenage punks with assault rifles. They didn't wear bullet-proof vests. They wore authority, and everybody knew it, and that was enough.
This IS an enormous tragedy for everyone involved: The parents of the child, the child, the police officers and their families, all of us. All of them are innocent, yet all of them failed.
The parents failed to teach their child respect for weapons, respect for others, and respect for law enforcement.
The child failed to recognize the danger he was inviting into his life.
The officers failed to exercise a gradual approach and assess the true threat level. Maybe they were just off another call that scared them?
In the end WE failed too. We failed to recognize the direction our government and society has been taking for 40 or 50 years and DO anything about it. But, hey. We are human. And we can learn from our mistakes. Right? What can any of US learn from this?
This discussion could go on for a long time. It's all just so damned useless. All of us just typing out words that mean nothing to any of the lives that were changed. We just need to remember that when we DO have an opportunity to teach our kids, or a younger brother, or a neighbor, or show respect to those that DESERVE it, or react with LEADERSHIP instead of apathy or ridicule.
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