LETTER TO THE EDITOR: ‘Act before this country is irreversibly torn asunder’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is an open letter to the attorney general of the United States. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, I know that by now, you have been briefed and your office flooded with calls and requests to investigate the murder of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile of St Paul, Minn. I know that the first line of investigation must begin at the local level, proceed through state channels, and possibly rise to the federal level. I know that there is a process, albeit often flawed, for dealing with incidents as the public has witnessed in the killings of the two men mentioned here. I also know that you are aware that this is not the first time killings such as occurred in Baton Rouge and St. Paul have played out in the social media space. I also know, and believe this deeply, that you have been appointed for just such a time as this. With this belief, I implore you, I beg you, and I beseech you with every ounce of strength I have to act before this country is irreversibly torn asunder. My president, I am sad and practically grieved to say, is powerless to do anything about the systematic, organized, and government-supported murder of innocent black men and people of color in America. I believe, if he could write an executive order that would nullify the power of the state to kill its citizens, he would. He cannot. If the president could give a powerful oratory, as he has done and is capable of doing, such that state and municipal leaders would cease from their heinous acts of murder, he would. He cannot. The malady we face today is answerable by the U.S. Constitution alone, and this is why I am asking you to move quickly to protect the citizens of these United States. I am begging you to move heaven and earth to safeguard the lives and freedoms of black men and women across this country. I implore you to tear down, once and for all, this blue line of hate and animus for citizens of color. I beseech you with all that I have to squash the ramparts of state-sanctioned murder, to demolish the fortifications of privilege, and fill the repugnant moat of racial hatred and bigotry with the righteous justice conveyed by the U.S. Constitution. Bring to bear the full power and authority vested in you by the people upon those who shame our colors and darken this nation’s tomorrows. Make an example of these rogue law-enforcement miscreants so that the brotherhood of hate and evil that draws strength and succor from states’ halls of power across this land will fear and think thrice before attacking with impunity the very people who built this nation. Sincerely and with many tears,

John P. Craig United States Marine Corps (retired) Magnolia