While dozens and dozens of cities have seen extensive rioting, looting and vandalism in recent days in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, it was gratifying to see a peaceful protest in Warsaw Saturday afternoon.

Warsaw certainly was not the only community to see protesters exalt their Constitutional rights and convey their concerns through peaceful means, but it is certainly heartwarming.

Here are a few reasons why the circumstances did not boil over:

• The two organizers were smart, young and both women. Idealists with good hearts who repeatedly emphasized the importance of not going negative. You don’t see that very often in men of any age who are upset.
• There was no march, which is probably a key factor
• The event was held in a plaza in a park and away from nearby businesses
• No agitators. Much of the crowd was quite young and probably not inclined to violence.
• Police monitored the protest from a distance.
• Warsaw is blessed with a solid economy. There’s very, very little blight. Nor is there a northside-southside difference in prosperity like what is seen in Elkhart, Fort Wayne, South Bend and other cities that have a striking visual disparity between the haves and the have nots.

The same group has organized another demonstration for 4 p.m. Wednesday, but this one will be a few blocks from the original site at the Kosciusko County Courthouse. Their concerns are real and need to be heard.

Hopefully, it remains peaceful. They deserve to be heard, but only in a peaceful manner.

– Dan Spalding
Editor
InkFreeNews