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Cooper: Headlines tell us the problems from 50 years ago are the same ones we’re facing today

George Floyd's name is written on the windshield as John Coy wears a shirt that reads Black Lives Matter and stands through his sunroof with his fist in the air at 16th Street Northwest renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, Friday, June 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
George Floyd's name is written on the windshield as John Coy wears a shirt that reads Black Lives Matter and stands through his sunroof with his fist in the air at 16th Street Northwest renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, Friday, June 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) George Floyd's name is written on the windshield as John Coy wears a shirt that reads Black Lives Matter and stands through his sunroof with his fist in the air at 16th Street Northwest renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, Friday, June 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

By Clint Cooper 4 min read

What’s with all the demonstrations and destruction?

Can’t these kids find something better to do?

How dangerous is this seemingly powerful Black organization?

The aforementioned aren’t the headlines of today, though the questions are surely being asked in some homes across the country. These questions were raised and discussed in news stories in newspapers 50 years ago this week.

We might say the more things change, the more they stay the same, but that does not take into account the many ways the country has changed since July 1970, especially about how much information to which we have access, the transmission of that information, and the diversity of our people and culture.