Screen shot from the Palo Alto Online
Virtual Town Hall Forum on
Race, Policing and the Color of Justice, June 25, 2020.
The murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers on
May 25, 2020 led to massive protests in
our country and around the world. It has also led to multiple discussions about
the social injustices that exist today, which started centuries ago.
I had the opportunity to participate in the Palo Alto Online
Virtual Town Hall Forum on Race, Policing and the Color of Justice, which took
place over Zoom on Thursday, June
25, 2020.
If you missed it you can see it at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6ddHFLbxO4&feature=youtu.be
At least 500 people registered to see it. Three hundred of
them participated online and others saw it when it was live streamed over the
Palo Alto Week’s Facebook page.
All credit goes to the Embarcadero Publishing Company, the
publishers of the Palo Alto Weekly, The Almanac and the Mountain View Voice for putting this forum together. Much credit also goes to the panelists and the audience members who participated.
No doubt, there will be many discussions like this one that
will take place all across our country and in other countries as well, as people
tackle some of the hard issues that involve power, social equity, justice, the
social determinants of health and related concerns.
All of the talk will be meaningful if it leads to solutions
that can be enacted to improve lives. This doesn’t mean making improvements for
some, but making improvements for everyone across the board.
Improving the structural systems on which our country is based and applying the principles on which our country was founded to cover everyone is a laudable goal. But, let there be no misunderstanding the fact that it is a goal that will take all of the best ideas
and actions, which we can muster to fulfill.
