Dear Editor:

I can’t agree more with the title of the column “America has a history of protests.” Don Amend gave examples of a couple of protests that occurred a few hundred years ago and then tackled the current “demonstrations” triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while being arrested by the police.

I have not heard any police officer (federal, state, county or municipal) condone the action of one bad cop or the three officers who stood by and let the abuse happen. But I do not understand the rationale of the “demonstrations” or “protests” involving burning down your own neighborhood — or how looting a store and stealing high dollar running shoes honors the unfortunate death of a man (regardless of color) killed by a bad cop. My personal favorite was the lady caught on film stealing a cheesecake; hope she shared.

The second example Don gave was of an incident in Virginia, where a black minister was arrested and five white guys were set free even after being the ones at fault. (By the way, I did read it a couple of times as he suggested, and for the record, I had never heard of this incident before.) What I took away from this example given was that a SUPERVISOR stepped in, released the minister, had the five white guys arrested, and DISCIPLINED the two arresting officers. Which is exactly what good leadership does.

According to Don, Minneapolis has had racism problems before. But that city has been run by a Democratic mayor and city council for years — the same city council that wants to abolish the police and send social workers on calls formerly handled by law enforcement. If you take a look at cities with current destructive “demonstrations,” it appears most are run with liberal leadership — for example, Seattle, which has a six-block “autonomous zone” in which police are not allowed; I would assume that also includes residents and business owners.

In Washington, D.C., the National Guard has been called in to protect the monuments. These leaders are standing by while statues are being torn down and monuments destroyed. Some of these same leaders have been in power for years. If their police departments are so bad, why have they not fixed those departments before now, instead of now standing by and watching their cities burn?

It is sad to see what America has become. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Our history is not perfect, but I cannot think of any place in the world, now or in the past, that can compare to what we have in America.

Alan Kent

Powell