Nashville’s George Floyd rally was peaceful. Scoundrels spawned the violence. | Editorial

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Demonstrators gather for ‘I Will Breathe’ rally to protest death of George Floyd Nashville Tennessean

People of different races and backgrounds gathered to denounce racism and injustice. The violence ensued afterward and it was an attempt to set back civil rights progress in Nashville.

Nashville wanted and deserved a peaceful protest on Saturday.

The afternoon rally at Tennessee’s Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville was peaceful and an amazing example of civic engagement and good citizenship.

The violence that ensued after it finished, perpetrated by troublemakers separate from rally organizers, was atrocious and an affront to basic decency.

The Old Courthouse that houses city hall was set on fire. A plaque commemorating the protests of 1960 that ended the desegregation of lunch counters was destroyed. Downtown businesses were vandalized and looted. The bad actors, whoever they are, wanted to stain Nashville, delegitimize the rally, sow distrust among citizens and set our civil rights progress way behind.

It is important to decouple the two events.

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Protesters set fire outside a window at Nashville’s Metropolitan Courthouse Saturday, May 30, 2020 Nashville Tennessean

Nashville’s civil rights history is complicated

In the first, more than a thousand people of diverse races and backgrounds gathered to denounce police brutality, demand justice for African Americans and communities of color, and call for transformational systemic change that has disproportionately kept marginalized people from benefiting from America’s promise.

The afternoon rally was inspired by the brutal and unjustified killing of George Floyd, an African American man, by a police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. Derek Chauvin was fired from the police force and is now charged with Floyd’s murder.

Nashville has a complicated legacy when it comes to civil rights. The student sit-in movement was birthed, nurtured and sustained in Music City.

But the remnants of segregation persist in housing patterns and displacement and in inequitable access to health care, education and job opportunities. African Americans and communities of color are disproportionately incarcerated at a higher rate than white citizens. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the problem; African Americans are getting sicker and dying at a disproportionately higher rate than their white peers.

In addition, Metro Nashville Police Department’s handling of the killings of two black men — Jocques Clemmons in 2017 and Daniel Hambrick in 2018 — at the hands of white police officers has been highly criticized.

So much so, that 60% of Nashville voters approved a community oversight board of police in November 2018. The African American community’s call for such a board had been made for at least 40 years.

To his credit, Metro Nashville Police Department Chief Steve Anderson — who has long been a target of community criticism for over policing minority communities — condemned Floyd’s killing.

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Blame the perpetrators of violence for the mayhem

Metro Nashville-Davidson County Mayor John Cooper invited the Metro Council and the community to join him at Saturday’s peaceful rally. It was a call for unity, peace and collaboration at a fraught time in our nation and contrasted the divisive, toxic and violent rhetoric of other leaders.

On his social media posts, Cooper has faced criticism from people blaming him for the violence.

But he is not to blame. The people who committed the atrocious acts are, and they should be held accountable for their misdeeds.

Nashville is in a state of stress and healing in the aftermath of the March 3 tornadoes, COVID-19, the economic fallout from the pandemic and now Saturday night’s violence.

However, it is incumbent upon our leaders and fellow citizens to continue to do the work, despite the setbacks, struggles and frustration, to move Nashville toward a place where equity and inclusion are not just talked about but are achieved by all in the community.

We cannot be deterred. We will not be deterred.

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Opinion and Engagement Director David Plazas wrote this editorial on behalf of The Tennessean Editorial Board, which comprises Regional Editor Michael A. Anastasi Editor, Executive Editor Maria De Varenne and Plazas. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas. Subscribe and support local journalism.

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