I hope (from fb - 20200531)

(this is a post I originally made on facebook, copied here and backdated so I can look back on it later)

If you are condemning and dismissing the people protesting and their reasons for it because of the actions of a small percentage of the group, then I sincerely hope you did the same for the heavily armed, angry, tactical-geared people who broke into state and federal buildings earlier this month.

(And I very definitely hope you noticed the difference in responses: One set was met with law enforcement who stood silently in place while weapons were being brandished at them and government buildings were being occupied, while the others were met with shouting, riot gear, tear gas, and rubber bullets as they simply walked down the streets or knelt on sidewalks, long before a subset starting getting violent.

I also fervently hope you spent a bit of time thinking about the differences in the two responses and what it must be like to face that reality EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.)