Finally, calm, considered intelligence has raised its head proudly along the beachfront spanning Lynn and Swampscott after months of protests.
The sign a demonstrator displayed Thursday morning read, “Black lives matter Blue lives matter — not either/or.”
This simple declarative statement cuts through the rancor, noise and absurdity that has become a hallmark of Thursday morning protests at the bottom of Monument Avenue a block from Gov. Charlie Baker’s home.
Since the summer, demonstrators have marched and gathered outside Baker’s family residence or on the beach near Mission on the Bay restaurant and tried to outshout one another or trumpet their viewpoint to the exclusion of all other perspectives.
This rampant exercise in free speech reached its boiling point with a pre-election standoff between two protest groups who clashed verbally and came so close to physical confrontation that police were prompted to move the demonstrators to separate sites.
The election and the slow return to sanity that, hopefully, will follow it will highlight the common-sense logic displayed by the Black lives/Blue lives sign holder.
Politics in 2020 has made many defend our position to the exclusion of other viewpoints. Black Lives Matter exploded with George Floyd’s May 25 murder. Somehow, for some reason, calls for racial justice and police reform and shows of support for law enforcement became opposing viewpoints and grounds for disagreements.
What could be more idiotic?
Doesn’t respect and support for law enforcement go hand in hand with police reform? We cannot understand systemic racism in America without understanding justice in America and the expectations we have placed on law enforcement to uphold justice.
Sloganeering and assigning labels to viewpoints we can’t tolerate is the refuge of the lazy or ignorant in a democracy. We must see all points of view and we must reserve the strictest criticism for ourselves. Only then will we strip away our prejudices and misheld conceptions and appreciate what change means.
Passionate free speech is welcomed more in the United States than any other nation. But outspoken views must be a path to deliberate discussion leading to societal change.
