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| Photo Courtesy of VOA |
The aftermath of events in which the police killed two black men in Minnesota and Louisiana, and in which an army veteran- a black man- killed 5 police officers in Dallas Texas, is put in perspective.
Yet again, the loss of innocent lives has prompted soul searching in a nation that prides itself as having built its democracy on a foundation of constant striving for peaceful co-existence, justice and the self actualization of its citizens.
As Barack Obama, President of the United States expressed in his address to some 2000 people in the city of Dallas at a memorial service of the killed police officers, "I've seen how inadequate words can be in bringing about lasting change. I've seen how inadequate my own words have been".
Now that is quite some admission from a leader who it can be argued and with good reason, prides himself in the ability of his words to fire the imagination, to provide perspective, to inspire a fervor for justice.
But how is this so? The answer perhaps lies in the extent to which a people are engaged with a co-existence rooted in fairness and in truth...
It can perhaps be said that an individual, a group of people, an institution or indeed a nation would adopt a position or justify actions however inimical to societal cohesion and hence peaceful co-existence, if nothing serves to challenge these ideas and actions.
It must also perhaps be said that only a constant and committed striving for the values of fairness, inclusion, compassion and justice could possibly be able to pose such a challenge.
