DEAR EDITOR:

What happened to George Floyd and the others is horrific and should never have happened.

We have come so far in America in helping the black community, minorities and women to overcome discrimination. Unfortunately, none of this is celebrated or appreciated.

The police are not our problem. Our culture, which has slowly worsened over several years is our problem.

When I grew up, my parents taught me police were my friends, and I could go to them if I needed help. If ever confronted by them, I was to respect them for doing their job, cooperate and do what they told me. In those days, police could order you to stop or they would shoot anyone resisting arrest. How many parents today teach their children to respect and cooperate with police?

None of these recent victims would be dead or wounded today if they had cooperated with police instead of resisting arrest.

Police today are being shot in cold blood just because they are police. They are harassed with water bottles, fireworks, bricks, rocks, canes, baseball bats, etc. Without respect and cooperation from all citizens, how can they do their job? Are there some bad cops out there? Yes, but most are not.

Black Lives Matter claims social injustice, but have they taken a good look at their attitudes of arrogance, bullying and intimidation? They have defeated their own purpose with law-abiding citizens. Peaceful protests would have gotten some positive response, but they bullied and overran the peaceful protesters with destructive riots, looting, killing and burning property.

This has changed our beautiful American culture into a third-world culture infiltrated by radicals. These people don’t want to do anything positive to make our country better. They want to destroy our country from within. All this unrest is being funded by someone. Who?

We need to get back to a country of law and order, enforcing our laws, arresting and punishing those who don’t obey laws. Vote out elected officials who won’t enforce our laws to take back our country.

Our country always offered the pursuit of happiness and the opportunity to be successful. It never said it would just give happiness or success. No one is owed a living.

Wake up America! All of us must work together, including police, to get our original caring, helpful, law abiding, moral culture back for America. We can accomplish so much more together.

Don’t allow unruly rioters and anarchists to destroy our great country.

May God bless all Americans who adhere to our free and moral way of life and work hard to keep our country from being taken by radicals.

D. MILLER

Austintown