Viewpoint: Now Is The Time to Come Together

Now is the time for us to come together as a nation and work to make sure that every person has the opportunity to grow and thrive. We all need to do what we can, as individuals — at home, at work, and out in society — to ensure that everyone has a chance to succeed.

Now is the time to come together and advocate against those who will not let that happen. Eschew those who destroy and tear down. Please give your support to those who are working to attain the American Dream.

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate…Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” –Martin Luther King

Now is not the time for blame — now is the time to come together.

We can all agree that George Floyd’s death was an unwarranted tragedy and that the policeman who caused it, as well as the officers who silently looked on, should be brought to justice.

We can all agree that shop owners, who have suffered through two months without business because of Covid-19 and who were just starting to reopen, do not deserve to be looted and their stores trashed.

We can all agree that people who are stealing from defenseless stores in cities everywhere are criminals.

I don’t care how poor you are, there are avenues in America to move up and they include education and hard work. That’s why so many people want to immigrate to America, where there is upward mobility and opportunity.

Many of the people whose businesses have been destroyed were minorities who were going up the economic ladder—and now, criminals have delayed and, in some cases, destroyed dreams.

In Pacific Palisades Monday night, two Caucasian youth, 16 or 17, were caught on a video camera at the Palisades Car Wash, trying to break in. They broke the door, the alarm went off and they ran. The owner of the car wash told CTN, “I was just able to bring people back after two months off and now this.” He was closing about 2 p.m. today because he said that people could take the stuff, but nobody could ever get a life back.

He had removed the cash and computers in his office and if anybody breaks in now, all they would find is potato chips.

How long will we have to have plywood on storefront windows in our community? A police and National Guard presence helps, but it all comes down to individual responsibility on the part of potential looters and vandals. A group doesn’t break a window, an individual does.

Below is a preliminary list of Santa Monica businesses that were hit on Sunday, obtained by a friend of Circling the News.

7/11 (Wilshire)

99 cents store (Pico / Stewart)

Adamm’s Stained Glass & Gallery (4th)

Adidas (3rd)

Anthropologie (3rd)

AT&T (Wilshire)

Autozone

Awesome Eyes (4th / Colorado)

Bay Cities (Broadway)

Be Crystal Clear (Broadway)

Benny’s Tacos & Chicken Rotisserie (Wilshire)

Bevmo (Wilshire)

Big 5 (Wilshire)

Big Jo’s (Broadway)

Bloomingdale’s (Broadway / 3rd)

Blue Daisy (Broadway)

Brandy Melville (3rd)

Broadway Wine & Spirits (Broadway)

Cash for Gold (Lincoln / Cedar)

Centinela Feed (Lincoln)

Central Compounding Pharmacy (Wilshire)

Chase Bank (4th)

Chevron (Wilshire)

Citi Bank (Wilshire)

Coffee Bean (2nd / Broadway)

Cold Stone Creamery (Wilshire)

CoolKicks (3rd)

Co-Opportunity Market (Broadway)

Crimson (Broadway)

Crossroads Trading (4th)

CVS (Lincoln)

CVS (Main)

CVS (Santa Monica / 26th)

CVS (Wilshire)

Cynergy Cycles (Santa Monica / 23rd)

Dash Run Studio (Lincoln / Wilshire)

Dianese (Lincoln)

DrugTown (Montana/7th)

Fisher Hardware & Lumber (Lincoln)

Flight 23 (3rd)

Foot Action (3rd)

Gap (3rd)

Gap (Wilshire / 20th)

Gelson’s

Goodwill (Santa Monica)

Hayk’s Smoke Shop (Wilshire)

Heroic Italian Deli (Santa Monica)

Hi-De-Ho Comics (Broadway)

The Hive (Broadway)

Hummis Bar Express (3rd / Arizona)

Jack’s Jewelers (4th)

Jamba Juice (4th)

Jewelry On 7th (7th / Broadway)

Kaiser Permanente (9th / Broadway)

Les Miller, optometry

Lincoln Barbers (Lincoln)

M & A Tobacco Inc (Lincoln)

Magicopolis (4th)

Massage Garden (Main)

McCarthy Pharmacy (Lincoln / Ocean)

New Balance (26th)

Nike (3rd)

Ocean Park Optometry (Lincoln / Ocean)

Patagonia (4th)

Pharmica (Montana)

Phenix Salon Suites (Broadway / 7th)

Pottery Barn (4th)

REI (4th / Santa Monica)

Rite Aid (Pico / 24th)

Rite Aid (Wilshire / 14th)

Rite Aid (Wilshire / 18th)

Sake House (Santa Monica / 4th)

Salon Tru (Santa Monica)

Salvation Army

Sand n Surf (Broadway / 2nd)

Santa Monica Car Sound & Window Tinting (Santa Monica)

Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy (Broadway)

Santa Monica Jewelry and Loan (4th)

Santa Monica Massage & Reflexology Center (2nd / Santa Monica)

Santa Monica Music Center (Santa Monica)

Sherwin Wiliams (Pico/Lincoln)

Shoe Palace (2nd / Santa Monica)

Simply Salad (2nd / Santa Monica)

Solidarity (Lincoln)

Sprint on (7th / Wilshire)

St. John’s Medical Plaza Pharmacy & Offices (Arizona / 20th)

The Stables (Pico)

Star Liquor (Main / Bay)

Starbucks (11th)

Subway (Wilshire / Euclid)

Sunnin (Wilshire)

Sunny Optometry

Supercuts (Wilshire / 19th)

T-Mobile (3rd)

Tar & Roses (Santa Monica)

Target (Santa Monica)

Thai Vegan (Santa Monica)

Toe Heaven Spa (Main)

Tory Burch (Santa Monica Place)

Training Mate (Lincoln)

Ulta (Wilshire)

Umami Burger (Broadway)

Undefeated (Main)

UPS Store (5th)

Van’s (Broadway / 4th)

Verizon (Main)

Vons (Wilshire / Euclid)

Vons (Lincoln / Broadway)

Walgreens (Lincoln)

Walgreens (Wilshire)

Wasteland (4th)

Wexler’s Deli (Santa Monica)

Wonders of the World (Lincoln / Broadway)

World Oil (Lincoln)

Ye Olde King’s Head (Santa Monica)