I’ve been feeling strangely hopeful in the last couple of days. It could be a case of unfounded optimism, but I don’t think so.
George Floyd’s murder was horrendous, and there will never be a “great day for George Floyd,” as the president so callously and inexplicably said a few days ago when bragging about the small turnaround in unemployment. At the same time, there is a strong sense of change in the air. We’re seeing the largest protests, internationally, that the world has ever experienced. Peaceful but forceful statements are now being heard above the diminishing noise of looting. Large numbers of former military and government officials and a few Republican leaders are speaking out against the president’s use of military force to deny the First Amendment rights of the peaceful protestors. We’re even seeing some police officers showing solidarity with demonstrators.
There seems to be a growing realization that opposition to the sitting president need not be a purely political act. Now, more than ever before, we’re seeing opposition to inhumanity, to the abject abuse of power, to the self-serving actions of a man who simply does not have the ability to serve the country. My hope is that many more Republicans will soon come to the conclusion that the human cost of the Trump presidency outweighs any policy advantages they may see in the short term.
But I’m not assuming that substantial and meaningful change will now magically happen. It will take sustained pressure between now and November. It will take even more voices, especially more Republican voices, consistently raised in support of compassion, inclusion, and reason. It will take more awareness of the continued pervasiveness of racism, and it will take active anti-racism.
There is more reason for hope today than there was a week ago.