I have been struggling to find the words to properly convey how I feel about the state of this country. “A City on a Hill” we are not, and we clearly never were. Any conviction that the beliefs and ideals of this country are not deeply rooted in white supremacy can not be based in fact, because the evidence is clear. Just look at the way the Covid-19 pandemic disproportionately affected black and brown communities in case you needed more proof that white privilege is a real, tangible thing. That being said, if after the way George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others were executed in cold blood, you still held doubts about these irrevocable truths, you may be beyond saving. These are more than names, they are human lives. As I was watching George Floyd’s memorial service today, this was something I continued to reflect on. Hearing his family talk about George growing up and the kind of person he was, the respect he had in his community, it made me think about the person behind the message. It made me think about George Floyd the son, George Floyd the brother, and George Floyd the leader. At the end of the day, it shouldn’t matter how good of a person he was, although it was clearly he was well loved. He deserved the right to live just like every other black person, trans person, or any other minority who is disproportionately targeted by those who are sworn to protect them. These are such basic rights that the idea that these are controversial is bewildering to me.
As a Jewish person, I think it would be offensive to compare the plight of the African American community to that of the Jewish community because as Jews we are not targeted in the same ways as black people. Jews were not made to be slaves in this country, and when those shackles were forced off, made to be prisoners in a corrupt system of legalized slave labor. Jews were not the target of the 16th Street Montgomery Church bombing, or of the Tulsa race riots, or of the Red Summer of 1919. No group has been more maligned, oppressed, or ignored in this country than African Americans. This ignorance and hatred must stop if peace is the goal. Without justice, there is no peace, nor should there be. As a Jewish person, and frankly as a citizen in this so-called free country, I think it's necessary to be staunchly against oppression of any group, and it is clear where our resources need to be at this time. None of us are free until we are all free.