Wednesday, July 1, 2020

What Color is Justice?








    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.