"We cannot let the work of a few undermine the pain felt by our Black neighbors or distract from the source of this grief and anger—we must remember George Floyd..."

"... his life matters, he should still be alive today. Right now, we must respond with our empathy and compassion. We must remember that anger and grief about injustice never need justification. We need systemic change to address the racism in our state and our country. As folks continue to protest and demand accountability and change, please do so peacefully—be kind to each other, help each other, and keep each other safe. And the stories of our neighbors who are hurting and demanding a more just and equitable country must be told to and seen by the people of our state and this country. Please allow the press to continue to tell them without interference or fear of violence or arrest."

A series of tweets by our Governor, Tony Evers.

He says "our Black neighbors," so he is assuming that the reader is not black. Black people are the other. Speaking only to white people, apparently, Evers portrays black people as emotional: "the pain felt... this grief and anger.... anger and grief... our neighbors who are hurting." He tells us, "we must respond with our empathy and compassion." In this conception, we the white people have empathy and compassion, not raw and dangerous emotion like anger, and we are the ones who are spoken to with the implied belief that we are capable of controlling ourselves and behaving in a forbearing, beneficent manner as we look upon The Other, our black neighbors. It's unsettling, this otherizing, and I don't think Governor Evers noticed he was doing this. Ironically, he wants the "us" group he's addressing to be vigilant about "systemic" racism.