As racial tensions have erupted into protests and riots on a scale never before seen, it might be challenging for city managers and other authorities to reflect on the causes of these demonstrations. When storefronts are smashed and buildings burn, authorities are more keen to literally put out the fires and arrest the perpetrators then they are to think of long term solutions.

There has never been a more critical time to do so however, and how they react in the coming weeks will determine the course of this country for decades to come. Will we move forward with real, material solutions to the deep racial and economic disparities that exist today? Or will we slip further into curtailed liberties and increased authoritarianism?

The slayings of unarmed black civilians by police and racist vigilantes deserve condemnation in the strongest possible manner, including through vigorous protest and civil disobedience, but they are one particularly horrifying symptom of a bigger problem: America has chosen to uphold the unlimited accumulation of wealth by a few as a higher principle than the value of black, brown, and working-class lives the world over.

Housing, mental health treatment, and education need to be included in public safety budgets – which escape the ax of austerity that falls anytime there are budget shortages.

“Poverty is the parent of crime and revolution,” said Aristotle some 2,300 years ago. It’s a shame that America hasn’t learned this lesson. Maybe a riot during a pandemic will expedite the process.

Grayson Lookner
candidate in Democratic primary, House District 37
Portland

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