Old Enough

Basically, humans work off of creating stories. We do it during the time an incident happens and we do it after. Memory is fickle and even videos can’t show the full impact of what’s going on.

Here’s the details that people agree on. There were two marches going on among many. One was an anti-abortion march, with participants including a Catholic-school group of high schoolers on a field trip. The second was an Indigenous People’s March.

The Catholic students moved into confrontation with a group of black men; an Omaha tribe member stepped in to separate the groups.

After that, people begin to spin their own narrative, placing blame or withdrawing it, without paying attention to the larger story that this conflict is embedded in.

Let’s reframe this: A group of black high schoolers surround some white folks at the Lincoln Memorial. What would be the reaction of the Mall Security? Or of the Washington D.C. police?

Overall, how many of those black teens would be left un-arrested? How many would be tried as adults? Would the police kill any of them?

This isn’t an academic question. A staggering amount of examples exist of black teens in America judged and executed OR tried as an adult, despite legally classified as a child.

This is something to keep in mind while this tale is being unraveled.

On one side, we have white, Catholic kids. They know they are in no danger of being shot. They know that the worst that can happen to them is maybe an arrest? A stern talking to? Their chaperone doesn’t seem to mind what’s going on.

On the other, and here’s where the narrative comes full into play.

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