My visit to the George Floyd protest in Madison, WI
In the midst of many cities being looted and burned down to the ground, I had a decision to make. I could stay home and avoid the liberal planned protest in our city (Madison, WI), or I could go face them head on. Living near a town like Madison, we have our share of political events, but I need up to date content not only for this website but also our Facebook page. With the risk of tear gas and facing the uncertainty of what was going to happen, I decided to go anyway.
I had just finished playing tennis around the time the protest was set to begin, and I promptly headed to the State Capitol Building. The funny thing to me is that the stay-at-home Covid-19 theorists are mainly on the Left politically, as are these protesters. However, I did not see any signs of social distancing at all going on at the event. Zero social distancing . People were packed in line to sign a petition requiring MPD (Madison Police Department) to all wear body cams. I actually think it is a good idea, a nice check and balance, but I would rather see a policy like that enacted federally or at the very least state level. Never mind not being 6 feet apart, these people were all using the same pen to sign the petition. Yuck! So much for fearing a 2nd wave of covid.
The woman running the event kept pulling her mask off to shout out instructions. Doesn’t she know that totally defeats the purpose of a mask? I guess not. I put aside that hypocrisy, and I began speaking with people that were part of the protest. It was quite obvious that not one single person there did not have any solutions in mind. I asked people what kinds of changes needed to be made, and they fumbled and stuttered with their answers.
There was a lot of “f*ck the police” type language being thrown around, which I did find extremely disturbing. I am not sure of any other profession that is more heavily scrutinized as a whole, by the actions of one. Let’s look at teachers for example. I could list countless local examples of pedophilia coming from an elementary or even high school teacher. I have never seen people marching around calling for the death of all teachers or even heard anyone chant fuck the teachers. I hate that one bad man or a few bad men bring out total hatred over an organization that I believe encompasses many brave men and women.
Thankfully today in Madison WI, other than the completely lewd behavior, I did not see any violence or looting, which is good. I think most people in this country would agree the behavior of that police officer was despicable, and we were relieved to see charges brought up so early. George Floyd’s family has spoken out against the riots, and I’m not exactly sure what else needs to be done in order to stop what, in my opinion, has been a senseless response to begin with. Leave your comments below and tell us what you think can be done to bring healing and bridge the divide forming among our communities.