I’m trying to get a handle on what’s going on and getting lost in the emotions. Let me see if I’ve got this straight.
- A police officer shoots a man in the back a bunch of times. Lots of people assume that happened because the victim is black and so this is an example of, at a minimum, of institutional racism if not outright deliberate racism. Racism is a kind of hatred/anger.
- Many people in the town of the shooting protest, some go on to do really destructive things causing lots of damage. That damage is a direct result of the anger the people feel about the shooting.
- Other people are angry about the destructive reaction caused by anger. They bring guns to the situation, people get killed.
- Professional athletes decide to cancel/sit out of games in solidarity with the protesters and anger over the original shooting.
- Commenters on various social platforms get angry over the injection of “politics” into the sports they like and complain about it.
- People on social media get angry that other people are angry about athletes being angry about an angry/hateful police officer.
So we’re dealing with what, the third or fourth derivative of anger? It feels like a never ending cycle. I’m both sick of trying to trace its origins and amazed at the sheer amount of anger floating around. I’m exhausted.
I think that noticing the anger cycle is the first step of realizing how wasteful it is. It also makes it that much easier to get out of it. Being angry about a specific thing can be used to effect change. Being angry about everything is paralyzing. It’s also dangerous. Since official leadership doesn’t seem to be interested in dissipating the anger it’s up to us as individuals to deescalate. Let’s try to stop both the literal and virtual mobs from forming so we can concentrate on making a real difference.