All must speak up for the disadvantaged

I was raised in Arlington Heights and was taught the Golden Rule, to do unto others what you would have them do unto you; also the Great Commandment: to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.

Sometimes, loving my neighbor means speaking up against injustice, in whatever form it may take. It is incumbent on ordinary citizens to speak up in support of the disadvantaged and advocate for issues that are important to all of us, especially when big change is needed.

As a white person, I am horrified and saddened at the unjust and wasteful loss of life of so many recent tragic deaths, black lives that really do matter.

Grief is hard enough when people die of cancer or other more natural causes. When certain (white) people in law enforcement (either in Minnesota or closer to home) take a (black) person into custody and seem to not care whether they die on their watch, that is outrageous. Their duty is to protect all the people, not victimize those that are different from themselves.

We need to demand effective action against those officers who abuse their positions. It would also help to mandate diversity training, including implicit bias, for everyone, especially those in positions of authority. We need to change systems that discriminate against and target people of color.

All people deserve to be treated fairly and treated with dignity. We all need to love our neighbor as ourselves. If you see something, say something. If we don't say anything, people won't know that we care.

Patricia Crusius

Arlington Heights