The violent and tragic events played out last week from Minnesota to Texas and from Georgia to Oregon magnify a troubling churning of our civil society.

Americans have overcome myriad social ills in our country’s history. Today we find ourselves angry and frightened by the escalation of violent clashes between police and citizens.

It’s more troubling because it comes now in the living color of social media, easily transmitted to everyone on the planet with a smartphone. The horrific live Facebook video of the shooting of Philando Castile, narrated by his girlfriend, brought all of us face-to-face with the dark reality of violence on our streets, near where we live.

But we should remember our troubled citizens and under-pressure public servants are not the enemy. The violence that seems to be feeding on our very social fabric is fueled by ignorance, fear and hatred.

And it is not up to the police, the county attorneys or the citizen group advocates to make it all go away. It’s up to all of us. It’s a daunting task.

We need to start at the result and work backwards. How did two people, officer Jeronimo Yanez and Philando Castile, who had much going for them in their lives, end up in a violent confrontation that resulted in a universal tragedy? Yanez was a respected and community-minded police officer lauded and recognized at his alma mater Minnesota State University in Mankato.

Castile was a much beloved cafeteria worker at a St. Paul Montessori school, where children and staff alike say he went out of his way to help anyone.

How did this happen? Our culture breeds fear in these cases. It may be due to the prevalence of guns and gun violence. It may be due to lack of education or a good job. The media play a role in sending us messages that suggest fear, hatred and ignorance are acceptable.

Violence is the symptom. Ignorance, fear and hate are the problems. They can only be overcome with understanding, love and respect.

— Mankato Free Press, July 9