Responding to public disorder

The killing of George Floyd has had tragic consequences for his family, for inter-racial relations in the United States and beyond, and for many innocent people in Minneapolis and beyond.  Inevitably the Jewish community has sought the best response, in some cases summoning up thoughts and ideas from Pirkei Avot.

The obvious place to start, when addressing any breakdown in public order, is with Rabbi Chanina's plea that people should pray for the welfare of the government since, if people do not fear and respect authority, every man would swallow his neighbour alive (Avot 3:2). The problem here is that much of the widespread public outrage that characterises the current situation has come from suspicion of, or hostility to, the lawful authority of the police force.  

Other contributions to the debate address the fact that we do not know the full facts and background to Floyd's death; nor do we have an insight into the motives of the various participants. On this basis we would do well to judge our fellow humans favourably (Avot 1:6) and not to judge anyone at all until we have stood in their place (Avot 2:5). This approach may help us to be more fair-minded but it mends no bridges. And, as for judging people, George Floyd will never be tried at all and, in view of public opinion, it may prove hard to give his killers a fair trial either.

The task of rebuilding both race relations and public confidence in police enforcement is an immense one, which has caused some commentators to note the fact that, however hard that task will be, we cannot shirk it. In this regard they point to Rabbi Tarfon's teaching that it's not for us to finish the task but neither are we free to desist from tackling it (Avot 2:21).

Curiously, given that there seem to be so many different narratives concerning the causes and consequences of this killing, I have found no references to Avot 5:9, which indicates that one of the distinguishing feature of a wise man is to concede the truth.  At times like this, the truth can easily be sacrificed at the altar of political expediency and, as yet, we do not know the full facts. Once we have them, we should respect and recognise them if a sane and lasting solution to the problems that led to this death.

For some recent citations of Avot in the context of the George Floyd episode click here, here, here, here and here.