The fact is George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, by a Minneapolis policeman. He was not killed by a federal agent in a community of white supremacists.
Minneapolis has been dominated by Democrat mayors for more than 40 years. If systemic racism exists in the Minneapolis police force it has been enabled by Democrat leaders for more than 40 years. Make no mistake, Gov. Walz, Mayor Frey, Attorney General Ellison, Police Chief Arradondo, Rep. Omar, Sens. Klobuchar and Smith – you own this situation. You have all run on platforms promising you would rid our community of this type of heinous behavior.
Liberal politicians’ show their cynicism when, while in control for decades, they express their outrage that racism is a systemic problem in the police department of our largest city. Each of these leaders has expressed support for the protesters, as if they are sympatico with their cause. Where is the self-awareness? These people are not supporting your leadership, they are protesting against your failure to deal with systemic racism while you are empowered to make real change.
Tim Waltz is our governor; not George Wallace
Jacob Frey is the mayor; not Lester Maddox
Keith Ellison is attorney general; not Jeff Sessions
Amy Klobuchar is our U.S. senator; not Strom Thurmond
Medaria Arradondo is police chief; not Bull Connor
Enough of the empty accolades for the protesters. Don’t pretend you are in agreement with their cause. Your actions, while in power to make real change, demonstrate otherwise. The correct response on your part is not to insult the community with feigned emotion, your responsibility was to prevent this from happening. You have all failed miserably.
Jack Joseph, St. Paul
Hong Kong is not so far away
“One reason that they (mainland China’s Communist Party and immigrants) came to Hong Kong is because there was the rule of law, there was a free enterprise system, there was a capitalist system, and there was democracy and local legislative elections. If all those things go away, I’m not sure how the financial community can stay there. It looks like with this national security law they’re (China) going to basically take over Hong Kong,” White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said on May 24, 2020.
For ordinary people like us, the takeover of Hong Kong by mainland China can seem far away and irrelevant, but imagine if Winnipeg, Canada, declared that they now control St. Cloud or Duluth simply because we both have some shared history and are connected geographically. China’s takeover of Hong Kong is a feudal takeover not grounded in Confucian nor Socratic methods of governing but instead unilaterally puts China’s arbitrary police enforcement and judicial decision-making in the hands of their communist comrades increasingly sent to Hong Kong. The citizens of Hong Kong, however, have no army and their vulnerable population — slightly larger than Minnesota’s — has demonstrated the power of resisting the destruction of their democratic principles for decades culminating in the massive, peaceful 2019 demonstrations.
The democratic, not autocratic, principles that made Hong Kong so desirable to China are the same principles that keep the United States functioning: judges trained to control their personal bias and who strive to determine rules of law that preserve a stable environment for everyone; individuals who value a competitive free market system, and most important of all, collaboration between and participation by all members of society through fair elections. Threats to each of these core aspects of democracy are occurring not only in Hong Kong but also in the U.S., when representatives seek the success of businesses rather than the well-being of citizens, and when judges make partisan decisions that excuse crime.
Excuses have been made for decades about China’s actions in Tibet and Xinjiang so Hong Kong is just the next phase in their agenda. Hong Kong and the United States have been extremely attractive places to live because of the balance between stable legal and judicial systems, and the balance of public safety and private profit. Hong Kongers are at the frontlines of defending democratic principles, principles that led to stability and wealth for many people but principles which China is destroying in Hong Kong. Hong Kongers are not far away over there; hopefully, we recognize the same desire for fairness, stability and equity for which they are risking their lives and, hopefully, we are willing to work for its preservation here.
Mary Voight, St. Paul
Standing where?
If Jesus were alive today would we see him with and organizing demonstrations for racial justice or would he be standing next to the president on the steps of a church for a photo op?
Joseph Capecchi, Mendota Heights
