A Comment on the Riots in Charlotte

We’re working on an article about business profits and whether they are ethical and Christian.  In the meantime, another important issue in society has come to the fore, yea, once again.  Consider:

On Wednesday night, when the rioting in Charlotte was most violent, I was watching on Fox News.  Their reporter Steve Harrigan was, as other networks' reporters, out in the midst of the action.  At one point, a young woman came within range of his microphone and started to shout at him.  She was neatly dressed, with a trendy fluffy hairstyle.  This woman is, however, a really angry person, totally frustrated with her treatment in life.  She exclaimed most articulately that she could be anywhere – on the way to school or work or just sitting in her car – and get shot.  It was a potent statement.  At the same time, she expressed the skeptical opinion that Harrigan wasn’t really showing her directly, but would instead take her words and twist them around to his own satisfaction before quoting her on TV.  Although Harrigan tried, he was not able convince her that she was in fact on live TV in front of millions of viewers right in that moment.  But her very own words and her clear, strong voice helped us understand her feelings quite distinctly.  I heard her.

Where have we been since the mid-1960s?  The first African-American president and numerous others in leadership positions of all kinds tell us that there's clearly some progress – and come take a look at my own Episcopal church congregation on any given Sunday for a multi-racial crowd of good friends – but we've obviously missed out someplace. . . . education, family structure, business investment in their communities.  Better law enforcement, advocated by many, does help, but it treats only the symptoms, not the underlying conditions.  We need to work on it all.  Is there perhaps even a personal outreach we can make?