By Kevin Dragseth
Philando Castile was my wife Toya Hodges Dragseth’s nephew, my father-in-law’s grandson. But that changes nothing.
He was murdered in our neighborhood, maybe a mile up Larpenteur from our house. But that changes nothing.
He was loved by friends and family. But that changes nothing.
He was loved and respected at his workplace. But that changes nothing.
He went to our high school, St. Paul Central. But that changes nothing.
He was stopped for a broken taillight. But that changes nothing.
He had a permit to carry his weapon, and declared it to the officer. But that changes nothing.
He was following the officer’s request for ID. But that changes nothing.
He was a citizen with the full rights and protections of the law to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—including the bloody Second Amendment. But that changes nothing.
I’m so sad, and so hopeless. I don’t want to raise our children in a world where these things happen every single day, where the protectors have become predators. Of course, seek justice against the killer, unquestionably. But how do we change our world systemically, so it doesn’t keep happening in the first place?
#philandocastile #blacklivesmatter #enough
Kevin Dragseth wrote this on his Facebook page the morning after Philando Castile was killed on Larpenteur Avenue. Dragseth and his family live in Como Park.
