Local opinion: The cost of non-violent civil disobedience

In the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination, we find ourselves in the middle of old arguments as to who is right and who is violent. Looking at press reports, it seems that the political right is screaming for retribution and revenge. While the political left is trying to sound the horn for calm and peace. History suggests when two sides of a house are diametrically opposed, violence is the most common outcome. America is its own recorder of the relationship between violence and American discourse.

I find myself a witness to that history.

I was introduced to political violence in 1963 when a sitting Democratic president was assassinated on live TV. I missed the live telecast of the shooting as I was in geometry class. However, the whole school was witness to the replays as television sets were placed in as many classes as possible so that we would know what was happening in the country. Something I heard all my life up to then was that this scenario could never happen (again) in this country. Yet there it was. I didn’t miss the follow-on event where Ruby shot Oswald on live television. I also saw the replay of the event.

Five years later, I found we as Americans were witness to another assassination. That of a Democratic hopeful for president, and the brother of the president in 1963. Still later, we were witness to the attempted assassination of a Republican president. Ironically, that shooting created the environment for the only gun restriction bill that I am aware of being passed in this country, the Brady Bill.

In the ongoing years, there have been many attempted assassinations in this country. Including the beating of a spouse of a prominent Democratic political figure, and the murder of another Democratic political figure and her husband. And even a second assassination attempt of a presidential hopeful, this time Republican.

But America hasn’t limited its violence to political officeholders. It has turned its wrath upon any figure when one side feels severely threatened by another side.

That I witnessed, as many others did. Today, everyone is talking about non-violent civil disobedience. “Good Trouble.” In the encouragement of non-violent action, it seems that there are few witnesses to the reality that non-violent does not mean no violence. Examples:

— Bull Connor and his dogs.

— Fire hoses turned on people, including children.

— Medgar Evers shot to death in front of his home.

— John Lewis was hospitalized (with many others).

— Four little Black girls, oldest was 14, bombed in the basement of a church.

— Martin Luther King assassinated on a balcony in Tennessee.

This was not just history to me. It was my life.

The idiom I learned during these “conflicts”: “If you are afraid to die for your beliefs, then be prepared for your beliefs to die.” I witnessed the Civil Rights movement and was part of its follow-on the in Black Nationalist Movement and the sacrifices people made to secure an equitable and fair America.

I am not saying that we should fear exercising our First Amendment rights to protest. We need that more at this time than I have witnessed in a long time. What I am suggesting is to recognize the apparent militarization of ICE and the ease of dispatching the National Guard to what have been peaceful events. Things could get uglier as time progresses. We should be aware of that possibility and prepare accordingly. I will not stand with you for anger and hate. But be sure to know I will be there with all of you to stand up for love and compassion. I will move forward with my faith and devotion. Not give in to the hopelessness and despair. Unlike prior demonstrations, this is not a Black thing. But an American dream that all of us are defiant to retain.