Two Divisions of Society

People protest the death of George Floyd in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2020. MANDEL NGAN/GETTY

Today is the sixth day since George Floyd was murdered by a cop. We've had five days of rioting.  Some of the protestors are legitimate.  They are exercising their right to assemble and the right of free speech.  They understandably are frustrated by the inequality of treatment between black and white people.  No one sees that better than I, every time I visit my "cloistered brothers."  There are more black people in jail than white.  Why?

But then there are anarchists in the crowd that just want to cause trouble.  They work up the crowd to smash and destroy. 

Also among the people are opportunists.  They rob stores and steal people's possessions.  This happened last night in Boston. While the police were busy policing the crowd at City Plaza, the bad guys lined their cars in front of the stores on Newbury Street and their accomplices ran in and broke into the stores and grabbed what they could, hopped into the waiting cars and took off.  Some thieves even had shopping carts and filled them up and took off pushing their shopping cards overloaded with stolen goods. 

Leo Tolstoi said:

There are two methods of human activity--and according to which one of these two kinds of activity people mainly follow, are there two kinds of people: one use their reason to learn what is good and what is bad and they act according to this knowledge; the other act as they want to and then they use their reason to prove that that which they did was good and that which they didn't do was bad.

Statement from Archbishop Jose Gomez

Please continue to pray for our nation in these difficult days.  May the Holy Spirit inspire all of us to live as brothers and sisters.

Today, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement on George Floyd and the protests in American cities that have taken place over the last several days:

The killing of George Floyd was senseless and brutal, a sin that cries out to heaven for justice. How is it possible that in America, a black man’s life can be taken from him while calls for help are not answered, and his killing is recorded as it happens?

I am praying for George Floyd and his loved ones, and on behalf of my brother bishops, I share the outrage of the black community and those who stand with them in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and across the country. The cruelty and violence he suffered does not reflect on the majority of good men and women in law enforcement, who carry out their duties with honor. We know that. And we trust that civil authorities will investigate his killing carefully and make sure those responsible are held accountable.

We should all understand that the protests we are seeing in our cities reflect the justified frustration and anger of millions of our brothers and sisters who even today experience humiliation, indignity, and unequal opportunity only because of their race or the color of their skin. It should not be this way in America. Racism has been tolerated for far too long in our way of life.

It is true what Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, that riots are the language of the unheard. We should be doing a lot of listening right now. This time, we should not fail to hear what people are saying through their pain. We need to finally root out the racial injustice that still infects too many areas of American society.

But the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost. Let us keep our eyes on the prize of true and lasting change.

Legitimate protests should not be exploited by persons who have different values and agendas. Burning and looting communities, ruining the livelihoods of our neighbors, does not advance the cause of racial equality and human dignity.

We should not let it be said that George Floyd died for no reason. We should honor the sacrifice of his life by removing racism and hate from our hearts and renewing our commitment to fulfill our nation’s sacred promise — to be a beloved community of life, liberty, and equality for all.