Our rage is racism

Althea Cole contends that the 2020 protests following the George Floyd killing reflected built up rage from COVID. Does she not think that a police officer murdering a Black man on national TV was enough of a display of racism to warrant those protests? People weren't carrying signs demonstrative of COVID and its repercussions. People weren't chanting "we won't wear masks," or "we won't stay home." People were holding signs and calling out, "I Can't Breathe," "Say Their Name," "Black Lives Matter!"

The CDC, before it was shattered, reported that Black and Hispanic people are two times as likely to be killed by law enforcement as whites. Black people makeup 6.1% of the population but account for nearly 25% of police killings. A Wikipedia page lists the unarmed African Americans killed by law enforcement officers in the US. It has happened 98 times since George Floyd. MAGA figures are calling for a pardon of Floyd's murderer's federal crimes.

Our governments in Des Moines and DC are doing everything they can to erase Black and Brown people from our history, our institutions, our educational facilities, our laws, and even our country itself. Ms Cole — our rage is because of racism.

Marcia Swift

Cedar Rapids