When I viewed the video of the Buffalo incident where the policemen pushed the man and he fell backward and hit his head on the concrete sidewalk, I expected to see an entirely different scene. I saw a tall, lanky gray-haired man in short pants approach two policemen by himself. He did not approach the policemen aggressively nor was he leading a group of protesters against two defenseless policemen. Suddenly, the policemen pushed him backward. He lost his balance and fell. Clearly the push was unexpected.
The policemen walked away, leaving him on the ground motionless and the group of policemen following walked forward ignoring the fallen man. Then suddenly, I saw one policeman attempt to kneel down and give the man some aid. A policeman in his group grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him up and pushed him to walk along with the others. They left the man lying on the ground.
In that group of policemen there was one soul who instinctively wanted to “do the right thing,” but he was prevented from doing so by one of his own. He did not have the courage to return to aid the man. Perhaps the one who pulled him away outranked him, and he accepted his misguided authority.
Many years ago at my daughter’s graduation TV journalist Tom Brokaw spoke to the graduates about going into the world and in Spike Lee’s words to “Do the Right Thing”.
Unfortunately, I see and hear how we have lost sight of this quality of character as a society. We are under such stress and strain from day-to-day to keep up with our basic needs. Many of us do not have the fortitude to take a step back, stop, think twice, and insist on “doing the right thing.”
There are some among us who have achieved super success in their lifetime and have no need to worry about basic needs. They can look around and in many ways are “doing the right thing” around the world and here. Yet they still do not grasp the imbedded reality of cultural racism. However, they can do more and “do the right thing” by facing the truth that they have known all of their lives, whether black or white.
The horrific death of George Floyd has pushed us to stop and think twice and scream we have to “do the right thing.”
When Martin Luther King was murdered, we knew there were racists who were eager to assassinate him. Dr. King knew it as well. Many of us screamed then, too.
And then there are our politicians, our elected leaders. They make promises galore but can they “do the right thing” in our politicized country?
We as a free society have to remind ourselves over and over again to “Stop, let’s think about this, let’s come together, let us all Do The Right Thing for the sake of our humanity.
Alan Altman
Great Neck
