By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 5, 2020 | It’s eerie what really hits you and gets your attention during big news events, like the recent riots across the country. (One map I saw initially showed riots in all but six states: Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Vermont, New Hampshire and…..Mississippi!)
Like millions of quiet Americans all over the country, we were upset, saddened and mad last week about the way peaceful marches and protests turned into riots, rebellion, lawlessness and anarchy.
It was an ugly and scary element of our country, as frustration abounded out of protest into unrest and agitation.
As one quiet American said, what was really unreal is that many agitators were destroying their everyday neighborhoods, as well as friendly businesses.
Later on, I saw this photograph of a smashed display at the All Star Grill at 200 Peachtree Street in Atlanta. The photo, taken by David Luce, was of a wall display of baseballs, signed by former players, which were not especially valuable. They might be replaced. Yet the vandalizing of this wall of balls essentially showed the meanness and craziness of those participating in the lawlessness.
The week’s events also gave us a glimpse of another side of leadership, involving two Gwinnett officials that made us proud. When Sheriff Butch Conway heard of a protest beginning, he took action. He went to the event, talked with people there, felt their frustration, and then walked alongside them during the peaceful protest. No doubt, he helped quell the demonstration.
County Commissioner Marlene Fosque also similarly visited with those protesting, and later marched with them in the peaceful protest. “I thought of myself as a go-between, willing to risk myself. As community leaders, we must go to where the people are.”
Conway
Fosque
Sheriff Conway added: “As long as you can talk and reason with people, you are not going to have as many problems. It’s when people don’t listen where problems start.”
Yes, we must wonder what might have happened had these two officials not gone and met with those protesting. Perhaps their very presence held back potential violence, and steered the gathering to a quieter ending. We offer to these two our thanks for stepping forward.
That same week we were reminded of a photograph etched in our mind from Atlanta’s Civil Rights Days. When in 1966 a riot erupted in the Summerhill neighborhood of Atlanta, the late Mayor Ivan Allen realized that something had to be done. He went to the scene of the angry gathering, climbed on top of a police vehicle, and with a bullhorn addressed the crowd with a plea for calm. It worked. Like Marlene Foske and Butch Conway, he took action that help modify the situation. We need more leaders like these, who even in the face of danger, put their life at risk for the common good.
For we can understand and sympathize with those protesting the recent death of a black man in Minneapolis, Minn. We can understand the frustration that many people have, black and white, over such a development. After all, we have seen on video something that is just not right, not by man’s laws, but by God’s laws. We want action. We want reform. We want justice. But justice can be terribly slow.
It has been an ugly week in our country. We must do better. We must change our thinking. And we must not forget, but continue to find paths to improve our nation.
Those missing and looted baseballs illustrated an ugly story. We must do better.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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