Listen to protesters and elect leaders who listen

I recognize that as a white woman of a certain age (the grandmother of college students.), I have lived a life of privilege. My white parents worked for civil rights in the 50s and 60s and they taught me that it is everyone's responsibility to make our country a better place for all. I have been on a learning journey for decades. A black colleague taught me about "driving while black" in the 90s, puncturing my ignorance. A biracial student taught me to recognize subtle instances of racism in our mostly white high school. I am part of a local group reading White Fragility and trying to understand the systemic nature of racism in this country and what we might do to change it.

But I cannot ever truly personally experience the pain and rage we see before us now. I raised two sons and never saw police officers as a danger to them. I cannot imagine the feelings that would inspire. We cannot confuse the anger of peaceful demonstrators with opportunists who seize protests as a chance to loot, whose violence begets violence. But the anger of the peaceful demonstrators is righteous and legitimate and we must listen.

The murder of George Floyd is yet another layer of horror. People of color in this country have suffered disproportionately from the covid-19 pandemic. And this incident of brutality is not the first by a long shot.

This country feels like a tinder keg. We need to listen. We need to support peaceful protest. And we need to replace leaders who continually fail to listen and squelch legitimate, peaceful protests with those who will lead the way in making change.

Ellen Jo Ljung

Geneva