Watching the news tonight. Mother Nature set parts of California on fire.....the news coverage shows people whose homes have been burned to the ground. Firefighters working hard to try to save other neighborhoods.
Both national and local news shows a Milwaukee neighborhood also on fire. Another tragic situation....young men with guns, police response, a young man killed and a community reacting. We don't have all the details.......but from what we are told the young man had a gun and as soon as the police stopped his car he jumped out and ran. He has a long history of criminal behavior.
Over the weekend some people in the neighborhood reacted angrily by setting businesses on fire, throwing stones at police, setting police cars on fire. The newscasters share that "social media" brought more and more people to the scene....only complicating an already difficult situation.
Tonight's news showed the victim's sister saying something about how people should take their anger to the suburbs and burn things there.
This is a complex and tragic cycle.....being repeated all around the country. And while I certainly don't support the comments about "burning the suburbs".....I also know that grief plays a part in this particular comment.
Dave and I were just talking, as we watched last night's coverage, that yes.....the young men involved seemed to be less-than-stellar members of their community. Many would classify them as "thugs". But I said to Dave "....they are still someone's son, someone's family member and they are loved." No....they don't "measure up" to our standards of what a responsible, independent young man is expected to be....but then we don't live where they live, we had different educational and family experiences than they did.
Again.....not excusing what is sadly happening in one neighborhood in Milwaukee....but again, realizing just how lucky we were to be born where we were born, to have the parents and opportunities we had.
A complex problem....sadly one that may take generations to solve.
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