George Floyd's death has placed a harsh spotlight on a reality that faces so many people in our nation every day. Part of that burning anger is knowing that this would have been covered up had a camera not been present. His death was horrifyingly, terribly wrong, and it is only one awful example of the daily racism which is still persistent in our nation and even within the agencies that are supposed to protect our citizens.

The rioting is also wrong. What frustrates me more is that most of the people who went out to protest George Floyd's death did so peacefully, but now the actions of opportunists is now taking the center stage, wrapped up with the legitimate and peaceful protestors who are still seeking justice for Mr. Floyd's murder. Today, I've seen both sides of the political spectrum try to lump everyone involved in the peaceful protest with the riots that followed.

I've seen posts by callous commentators who have lumped all of Minneapolis into group of stupid degenerates. I've seen posts of armchair warriors make radical "woke" statements concerning the riots and vandalism as if they are some sort of heroism or, worse, tribute to George Floyd [Follow this link  for what his girlfriend and family think about that idea]. By treating the mob and the people in the protests as one, both types of posts are detracting from the real issue and are dehumanizing entire groups of peace-loving people who were simply seeking fairness and positive change.

The riots do speak to larger, underlying problems. They speak of the desperation (hoping to get those TVs/jewelry/lamps they wanted while undetected in the chaos) and frustration (lashing out and destroying property in a type of catharsis) that some people feel even today, even here in our great nation. Unfortunately, these riots will be as effective as riots in the past have been. The riots will become the story ... for a while. They will be shut down and become a historical footnote that few people remember ... and the racism and miscarriage of justice will continue.

... and that angers me.

The nice thing about Oasis Days during the summer is that the boys have to get much more creative in how to spend their time. Rather than only having a few hours after school to fill, they need to find non-electronic means of entertaining themselves (although they are allowed non-competitive multiplayer electronic diversions). This has led to more arguments on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but also some interesting moments between them.

Today, Connor started doing his accelerated math homework in preparation for moving up to middle school. All of the boys spent time reading. They also have been playing the new update of Terraria together.

However, my favorite bit was when we tried dodging rain showers. The sun kept tempting us to come out, just to have a cloudburst hit as we went outside. Still, we persevered so we could play some frisbee golf and badminton (with and without the net).

I’m glad we’ve kept this idea going.

Considering that this was only second time that I have run a graduation (and that the last time, I had the fantastic Sherry Engle to basically run the show), that we had to deal with the limitations due to the coronavirus, as well as a variety of technical difficulties, and considering that it decided to literally rain on our parade, this year’s graduation actually went pretty well. A big thank you goes out to all of the amazing people who helped put this together. Another one goes to the supportive parents and community that helped make this a success despite the many challenges.

However, the biggest thank you goes to this Class of 2020 who showed their tenacity and togetherness in the face of an unprecedented situation. Congratulations, graduates!