Summary

The web content discusses the ongoing demonstrations against racism and police brutality in the United States, emphasizing the urgency for change and the historical context of the struggle for civil rights.

Abstract

The article titled "When Will the Demonstrations End?" addresses the widespread protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, highlighting the long history of racism and police brutality in the U.S. It reflects on past incidents of racial injustice, the efforts of civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the lack of significant progress despite decades of activism. The text underscores the need for immediate action to address systemic racism, particularly within corporations and government agencies, and suggests potential solutions to foster racial equality. The author acknowledges that while some advancements have been made, the persistence of racism, especially against Black individuals, requires substantial reforms to improve societal conditions and bring an end to the demonstrations.

Opinions

The author believes that the problems of racism and police brutality are man-made and therefore solvable by human effort, quoting John F. Kennedy.
There is a sense of urgency for change, as the demonstrations have been ongoing for over two months since George Floyd's death.
The author points

When Will the Demonstrations End?

Change needs to come and soon

Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. John F. Kennedy

After the tragic killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, racism again came to the forefront in the news and on the minds of most people. Peaceful demonstrations against racism and police brutality of Black men began all around the country with some in other parts of the world as well. Demonstrations have been going on for a long time. People are tired, but they just keep protesting. Change needs to come soon.

The demonstrations in some cities are ongoing. It has been over two months since George Floyd died and the peaceful protests started. Unfortunately, the protests did not all stay peaceful. Some turned into riots with destruction to property and people.

People are protesting because changes are not being made. It takes a lot of time to make meaningful change to laws and attitudes. There has been a LOT of time that has gone by since protests against racism began decades ago.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. started working diligently on civil rights with peaceful protests in the 1950s. He was a minister who preached nonviolence. He and his followers would not fight back when they were attacked by police and others during the protests when they turned into riots.

The riots in Los Angeles went on for two weeks after the beating of Rodney King was caught on camera. That was in 1991. Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old Black youth when he was shot in Florida in 2012 by George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of the murder. Michael Brown was 18 when he was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Freddie Gray was 25 when he died in police custody in Baltimore in 2015. So many cases of injustice and inequality against Black people have occurred. Local protests were held for some of incidents, but there were no national protests such as there are now.

Colin Kaepernick tried to bring the issue of racism and police brutality to the attention of the general public when he took a knee during his pro football games in 2016. He was using his platform as a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers to make people aware of the problems. Instead of the movement going anywhere, he was ostracized as being unpatriotic. Instead of listening, people turned a deaf ear. No changes came from his actions except that he was punished by losing his job.

* * * * *

Racism exists throughout the world in all areas of life. It is a big problem in corporations and in government agencies. Although they will claim that they are not racist, their actions speak louder than their words.

In his Medium article, “Inequality of Opportunity Abounds in Corporate America, But we can fix it,” Alejandro Diaz lists four ways to start fixing the problem of racism in corporations.

* Hire more African Americans to executive levels

* Include more minority representation in local HR departments

* Foster difficult conversations with middle managers and directors

* Implement yearly reviews that include staff and line-worker assessments of managers

[Check out his article for all the details on these issues.]

* * * * *

Racism has gone on for far too long. There have been chances to fix things for years, and still, racism continues. Although some progress has been made, there is still too much racism that is adversely affecting minorities. Black people are especially facing the worst cases of racism.

During this time of the coronavirus pandemic, some people are protesting as well against other things besides racism. They are fighting for their “rights” to not wear masks, to not practice social distancing, and to do whatever they please. People are protesting against the opening of schools. Some people are finding any excuse to hold their own demonstrations.

Changes are long overdue as far as racism and police brutality are concerned. While racism may not be able to be entirely eradicated because there are too many ignorant and intolerant people in the world, changes need to come soon. Conditions in the world need to improve so that the demonstrations can end. The peaceful protests were beneficial at first in bringing attention to the long standing problems of racism. Now actions have to be taken so that people can have a better life and stop the need for demonstrations.

When will the demonstrations end? Hopefully, soon. We need to all come to our senses and work for change sensibly instead of holding protests forever.

Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance. Václav Havel

[Source: Internet articles, Wikipedia, and Medium]