Donald Trump has just been re-elected president of the United States, but with nearly half the American people voting against him. As of this writing and somewhat surprising to me, is that Trump’s Republican Party has elected enough senators to take majority control of the Senate.
The recent campaigns reveal a deeply divided American people. There are lessons here to be learned and multiple conflicting discourses to assess.
Seeking to expand the availability of heterodox discourse, Alpha News, a very small start-up source of news here in Minnesota, has produced a moving documentary looking at a fault line among Americans – the ethical quality of our police.
For many, the police are racist in their interactions with minorities, especially with African American men. For others, the police are necessary to protect families and neighborhoods against violence and criminal trespasses on the vulnerable and the innocent.
In Minnesota recently, 5 police and firemen have been killed in trying to do their duty. Alpha News believed that telling their stories and bringing forward to the public the grief of their families would provide more perspective to voters in this time of disagreement and intolerance of the views of others.
For some, this documentary – Minnesota v. We the People – brings out feelings of compassion and respect as emotional responses to individual sacrifices made that the community might be more safely livable and supportive.
For others, it may not be so welcomed and so be perceived as too one-sided in its appreciation of policing.
The producer of the documentary, Liz Collin, received our Dayton Award for 2023 for her courage and leadership in making an earlier documentary commenting unfavorably on the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin for murder in the death of George Floyd, when Floyd was in the custody of officer Chauvin and other members of the Minneapolis Force and protest riots breaking out in response to his death in police custody.
Criminality is everywhere a human failing. Policing, rightly done, is everywhere a human social asset. Discourse everywhere facilitates both our becoming aware of our failings and our seeking betterment in our lives.
By sharing this documentary, we hope to provide you with a discourse worthy of reflection on how we, in every country, city, town and village, should meet our need for security of self and others and for providing respect for self and others.
You may watch the documentary here.