I don’t want to sound under-appreciative of all of the people who are calling for an end to the violence, it’s just that I’ve never seen “Stop the _________” actually, well, stop anything. It doesn’t work, because you are not trying to fix a cause, you are trying to stem a reaction to a cause. Once someone looses their cool and becomes irrational, by definition, you cannot reason with them.
The only bigger fantasy is expecting them to reason with themselves in this state. “Stop the anger” is maybe closer… but ultimately that also doesn’t involve stopping something so much as starting something. It means seeking to understand why people do the things they do and addressing that, rather than simply expecting them to stop responding to stimuli because you said so. It means using the groups and labels, that we as a society are so fond of assigning, as a means of bridging gaps rather than highlighting differences and adding more “gape” the the already sizable “maw.”
Here’s the thing, the shooter in Dallas didn’t open fire on those police officers because of what they were doing, he opened fire on them because of what they looked like. They represented an easily identifiable group toward which the shooter held particularly strong feelings… they were merely symbolic of the actual target of his rage. If that sounds familiar, it should, because it is among the leading causes of friction in our society. Without this type of group association, for example, Philando Castile and Corey Jones – along with those officers in Dallas – might still be alive today.
With all due respect, “stop the violence” is ultimately a lazy approach to a real problem and a non-starter as a solution. It’s a placebo that lets people feel like they are doing something, when they simply aren’t. It’s kind of like trying to make your first million (or achieve world peace, or whatever) by blowing out the candles on your birthday cake.
Again, while I appreciate the sentiment, it is powerless and ineffectual. If you want to actually do something to reduce (or stop) the violence, start having honest, candid, and objective conversations about why police feel more threatened by an African-American man than they do by others in the same situations; and then asking “what can be done about that?” Apply the five-whys-to-be-wise approach and keep asking why until you get to the actual root cause, rather than the simple answer that is often a symptom, not the disease.
I want to be clear about this, I’m not talking about being less engaged… I’m not telling anyone to stop doing anything (other than stringing three meaningless words together). I’m asking everyone to take more action, to be responsible for what is going on around them in their own country and community. Further, I’m asking people to do so in a substantive way… a way that can actually make a difference. If you really care, and I believe each and every one of you do, stop throwing lip service at the problem, get your hands (minds?) dirty, and start working toward a solution.
Or, I guess, keep enjoying the ignorant bliss of your birthday cake… over and over again… for all that’s worth.
