To the editor:

It’s easier to win a fist fight than change someone’s mind. The same with wars and lawsuits. Knock him down, make him surrender, win the verdict, but how do you hold on to what you’ve won? Even though right prevailed, what if the loser won’t accept the verdict?

We’re glad of the jury’s verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial. But what will change on the streets of the 19,495 incorporated cities, towns and villages or the 3,006 counties in the United States? Multiply these 22,500 political places by the 365 days and nights for each year and then, for good measure, give it a reasonable time, say 12 years, and multiply again. That will give you an idea of the magnitude of the problem.

Why 12 years? Because 1865 to 1877 is how long Reconstruction lasted. The official count of Union dead is 360,222, with 618,222 total dead. On a relative basis that would be 6.5 million dead today. All those lives were spent to end slavery. I can’t even guess the correct multiplier of wives, children and parents to truly quantify the impact. But in 1877 after 12 years trying to enforce civil rights, the North finally gave up, gave in, and the South had its way, keeping slavery under a new label: Jim Crow.

Black Lives may Matter to most of us, but don’t forget what you saw Jan. 6. Keep that in mind when you find Tucker Carlson’s reaction on FOX. This time we need to finish the fight.

William Skepnek,

Lawrence