There is certainly a lot of civil unrest going on right now, but taking to the streets, in our opinion, is not the way to solve our problems.
The current unrest seems to have been brought on by two deaths of black Americans at the hands of white people.
The first was the death of Ahmaud Arbery, who became the victim of a father and son team of vigilantes. The incident was filmed by another person who has now been charged as a by-stander.
It seems that young Arbery, 25, was out jogging in a south Georgia neighborhood and was being followed by Gregory and Travis McMicheal. The younger, Travis, was the one whose video shows the shooting and killing of Arbery. The incident was being filmed by a third party who was charged last week. It is alleged that he was part of group that attempted to make a citizens’ arrest of Arbery.
Since then another black man, George Floyd, was stopped by police officers, cuffed and detained by officers of the law in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd was then murdered by one of the officers while the other three sat and watched. That event set off a chain of riots and looting across the nation.
The ensuing chaos has resulted in injuries, burnings, lootings and other violence. The nation is now in a state of flux.
Meanwhile, a group in Simpson County would like to hold a protest. However, now is not the time to host an event that could propel us into the national spotlight if one person decides they want to get national attention and someone gets hurt or murdered.
There are plenty of rednecks around who could use this as a platform to get national attention through confrontation or worse, actual violence. The same thing is true from the other side. There’s no lack of people who just want attention and would take advantage of this situation for their own purposes.
Even a planned “peaceful protest” opens the possibility of bringing in fringe groups like Antifa, which is short for Anti Fascist. They have no actual stake in local events or really in the death of George Floyd. They come in, stir up strife and then flee the scene.
The same can be said about the Ku Klux Klan, and, yes, they were active in Simpson County not too long ago. These demonstrations on either side often manifest and encourage hatred. According to the internet, the Klan was in Simpson County over the weekend.
That is why we believe that it is in no one’s interest to stage marches here, at least not now when the nation is a literal powder keg and the point has already been made anyway.
We would be a lot better served to sit down with the leadership in the community and address issues like adults. If clear heads determine that marches are needed, they should be held as a last resort and not something to jump into because “everyone else is doing it.”
The majority of our citizens, both black and white, are good people willing to do what is right.
Do not allow bad things to happen in our community for no good reason. We need to be concerned about other far more important issues.
