By our internal clocks, if not by the solstice, Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer. With concerns that run deeper than usual, many St. Louisans are wondering what kind of summer it will be. This week offers some clues.
On the arts and culture front, Opera Theatre prepared to open and the LouFest lineup was announced – bookends of a summer scene that will include the Shakespeare Festival, Circus Flora and myriad free concerts and festivals. It’s easy to take for granted St. Louis’ wealth of talent, creativity and commitment. Yet those strengths are real and remarkable -- nevermind our Midwestern reluctance to brag.
On other fronts, the picture is stormier, less predictable. Last summer ended in thundering protest. Some of the same issues echoed this week as St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce announced she would not charge the St. Louis police officer who killed VonDerrit Myers Jr. in the Shaw neighborhood.
Also this week, President Obama’s task force called for police to be guardians, not warriors. That profound mindset shift could be crucial in addressing police-community problems -- more crucial than the president's policy change to ban police use of certain military equipment. But implementing a change of attitude in thousands of locally controlled police departments is like grasping at clouds.
Michael Brown’s death last August blew a tornado of issues into national prominence. But new laws and policies to effectively address the issues have generally proved elusive so far. That’s certainly true in Missouri, where the legislature passed municipal court reforms but failed to confront other challenges.
And yet, something has changed in the atmosphere as summer approaches. You can feel it in the prompt and transparent handling of recent police shooting investigations in South Carolina and Baltimore. You can sense it in the approach Circuit Attorney Joyce took in her report on Myers’ death. She specifically addressed common public perceptions about what happened. (He had no sandwich and he did have a gun, she said.) And she explained in plain language why she didn’t charge the officer, based on evidence, witness accounts and legal standards.
In other words, Joyce spoke directly to the public against a backdrop of new expectations for official accountability. Some disputed her conclusions, of course. They want to see more than a shift in attitudes. Yet deeper change won’t happen without it.
Wonder what this summer will be like? In prominence of race-related issues, it might resemble the summers when southern marches and demonstrations made new civil rights laws a national priority. And yet, our current problems are so deeply rooted that new laws alone won’t solve them.
Or perhaps this summer might in some ways resemble the struggle over gay rights. Public sentiment shifted rapidly when the straight majority woke up to the previously “invisible” reality of hardship for gay people. And yet, our current problems are so systemic that transformation of individual attitudes alone won’t solve them.
As summer arrives we face challenges that involve hearts and minds, people and policies. Expect the usual seasonal outpouring of talent, creativity and commitment – and a time that will test all our strengths and resourcefulness.
