Although people at home were aghast, we still journeyed to NYC after the attack. We figured NYC would be the safest place to go, as it would be on high alert from the federal, state and city law enforcement agencies.

When we arrived, I was stunned to see an abundance of armed military at the airport and strict airport security. Remember, this was before the introduction of Transportation Security Administration (TSA,) an agency which was created as a result of 9/11.

What was more stunning was the patriotism and unity of Americans at that time. Like all countries, the US has its regional differences and Americans squabble with each other about the same issues that Canadians do. But when America came under attack, all differences were set aside and the country was united. It didn’t matter what race, creed, colour or ethnicity any American was, they were first and foremost American.

Fast forward to May 2020.

How did America go from “all for one and one for all” to being an openly racist, bigoted, divided and violent society? Is it because the attack is coming from within as opposed to an outside enemy?

We have become desensitized to brutality, mob violence, burning and looting when we see it in the media because it is usually in a far-away place that we don’t quite identify with, so we shake our heads, do a tsk tsk and try to put it out of our minds. But when it is happening in our neighbour’s backyard, we take greater notice.

The US is supposedly a “civilized” country, like ours. It has laws and a judicial system, local and national police protection, just like us. US citizens have constitutional rights, as do we. But laws are only as good as the people that enforce them, and rights come with responsibilities.

Regrettably, the people elected to protect the citizenry in the US have failed in their responsibilities.

It was hard to watch the video of the murder of George Floyd, a black American man who allegedly tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a retail store.

We will never know whether he knew the bill was counterfeit or not, but even if he did it was not offence that carried a death penalty, and even if it did, police officers are not judges, juries and executioners. Floyd was a suspect in an alleged crime, handcuffed and in the custody of four well-equipped, able-bodied police officers.

He was not a threat to himself or anyone else. It doesn’t even matter if he was spewing verbal diarrhea at the police; he was not a threat and excessive force was not warranted.

Why did this one man’s brutal death at the hands of police officers cause the protests and violence that ensued? Because it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was so blatant and so cruel and so undeniable. And it is because too many black people for too long have been mistreated, abused, belittled, falsely accused, wrongly incarcerated, and killed simply because their skin is dark coloured.

None of us can condone the looting and destruction that accompanied the protests and the looters are not necessarily the protesters, they are the parasites that feed off tragedy.

Mob mentality sets in and reason is lost. But perhaps it is understandable when you consider that peaceful protests do not capture the public’s attention, and thus nothing is done to correct the injustice that is growing across their nation.

For years, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) group has been trying to capture the nation’s ears about the police brutality inflicted on black citizens.

When football star Colin Kaepernick used his status to bring attention to the BLM movement by kneeling on one knee during the singing of the national anthem before the game, the president of the United States, using the power of his office, called those who knelt in support of the BLM “unpatriotic sons-of-bitches” and called upon the nation to punish the league for allowing these players to peacefully protest the cause.

The result was that Kaepernick was ousted from his football team and the league threatened sanctions against any players that knelt in protest. So much for peaceful protest.

The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s that caused years of bloody brutality, death and mob destruction was coupled with the peaceful protest led by Dr. Martin Luther King.

As horrific as it was, it ended with legislative changes that instilled equal rights for black people. Clearly, it did not stamp out racism, but racists could no longer outwardly practice racism without suffering penalties. It was hoped that eventually those haters would lose their collective voice or die off and the new integrated society would be colour blind.

It didn’t anticipate the election of a racist president that would green light white supremacy, while law enforcement turned a blind eye, or in some cases participated in, xenophobia. However, these riots will soon be over, and we will see if any positive change comes from this tragedy.

Not all police officers are bad apples. But there are a growing number of law enforcement officers across the US that exhibit tendencies of demi-gods who believe it is their job is to mete out street justice rather than uphold the law.

It is corrupt governments and their agencies that become a breeding ground for anarchy. And how do you fix it when the good cops are expected to circle the wagons when one of their own is accused of breaking the law.

The mantra of good cops should be the truism coined by Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

As Canadians, we should be neither righteous nor complacent about racism as we mirror some of the same attitudes as our American neighbours. I challenge you to re-read this column and substitute “Canada and Canadian” for US and American and replace black with “Indigenous or Muslim or Immigrant” or whatever your least favourite minority is.

Our mirror may be slightly clouded, but the image is still reflective of those looking into it.

-Elaine Hnatyshyn