Dear Editor:
I write regarding the editors' May 2 letter on the right to protest. This is the kind of poorly thought out opinion that comes of not having a diverse editorial board.
You literally just published an article last week pointing out that Missouri leads the nation in homicides committed upon black people and has done so for seven of the last 10 years.
Even so, you advocate for "[drawing] the line at protests that could endanger the public." What about the public that is endangered every single day and has been for centuries? How long must they be patient, polite and accommodating when trying to call attention to the constant assault of everyday injustice?
You fret about the Ferguson protests having been "dangerous and unlawful." More dangerous than Living While Black in the USA? More unlawful than homicide? Fretting about a few broken windows or whatever and the inconvenience of an obstructed highway is so completely tone deaf.
FYI, a well-known code among activists is that emergency vehicles get through no matter what we have going on.
And frankly, the language of inconvenience is the only language people in power understand when it comes to granting minority communities the same rights that the rest of us so casually take for granted.