At 11:11 PM 6/12/03 -0500, Gregory W. Reinhardt wrote:
Yesterday, a young man died before my eyes. I had found him on the stoop of his apartment building and it was readily apparent that he was a victim of a brutal assault. I never knew him, never seen him in the neighborhood, and never had a reason to care about him. Yet, his death bothered me and I was uncomfortable with the fact that it did.
Thank you for your powerful words. They are haunting.
As a nurse, I have also seen more than my fair share of death and the senseless results of brutality. After a while people in fields like ours seem to build up an "immunity" to it. It's not because they are bad people--they have built shells around their hearts to protect themselves from the barrage of painful experiences. Painful as it is, though, I'm glad that your "shell" is thin enough for you to still feel sadness at the death of a young person. Maintaining our humanity is our saving grace.
I am a police officer. I have seen many people dead or dying. Some natural, a few accidental, and others have been the result suicidal violence. And like the young man I had found, many the victims of homicide. Ive learned to never underestimate the amount of brutality people will inflict upon each other and their loved ones. I should be use to it. But I am not.
In this forum, there have been meaningful and comprehesive discussions about police brutality. However, neither a single police department nor a government has a lock on brutality. Its everywhere you look.
Sadly, you are right. Our own government models brutality here and around the world daily. As you noted, TV reinforces the model. Children are taught by example to value brute strength over negotiation and discussion as the way to solve their problems. It seems that the level of violence in our society is constantly being racheted up.
You are clearly an intelligent, caring, thoughtful person. I'd like to hear more from you on your thoughts about how our society can get past this point. I'd also like to hear your thoughts on the specific issue of police brutality which is, in my mind, a form of state-sanctioned violence. I'll understand if you feel you cannot "go there" but if you could share your perspective, I think it would add an important element to these discussions.
Michelle Gross
Bryn Mawr
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
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