About one week ago, Americans celebrated the 240th anniversary of this nation's independence. However, just a few days after, the horrific murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile proved that we, as black people, are still not free. These two murders, as well as the murder of the police officers in Dallas, have raised the racial tension in this country to a level it has not been at since the beating of Rodney King.
The reaction many (white) people had was the same reaction they have had since black people started speaking out about the increase in police shootings. "All Lives Matter," the dismissive mantra of many people, does not address the question of why these men were shot. All Lives Matter does not address why these murderous cops are never indicted. The only thing all lives matter does is make white people feel less guilty about the white privilege they benefit from on a daily basis.The "All Lives Matter" crew does not have to deal with the same fear a black mother feels every time her son leaves the house, leaving her with the terrifying question of will he come home or not.
The fact of the matter is, all these cops shooting innocent black people in cold blood shows that they think all lives DON'T matter. Black lives do not matter to them. While all lives do matter, black people are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white people. We are also killed at twice the rate of Hispanics and Native Americans. So yes, all lives matter, but would it be O.K with y'all if we focused on black people for the time being?
Clearly something needs to be done about the type of police officers being hired. I am certainly not saying all policemen are bad and that they all kill people for no reason. There are a lot of great, lawful police officers in this country, dutifully and courageously protecting their communities. However, there are certainly racists, homophobes and even Klansmen in police uniforms nationwide.
Now you may be asking yourself, how could a system created to protect communities across America employ such deplorable people? Well, the answer to that is simple: this system holds the same views of those deplorable people. Recently, a few minority New York police officers admitted to something all black people already knew. Police officers are required to target the most vulnerable of areas when looking to fulfill quotas, and that means black neighborhoods. The police department and the entire police system is what is truly setting us up to fail and, sadly, be killed.Truthfully, racism goes deeper than just our police system in this country. Racism has been institutionalized in so many facets of America, from the prison system, to the educational system, to the sports' world (don't even get me started). Racism has even been institutionalized in our federal government, leading to all types of legislature made to oppress African Americans. Racism is ingrained in America and therefore explains why Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and so many more have been killed at the hands of cops. America does not think their lives matter.
Lo and behold, I am just a simple writer, so no I do not know what needs to be done to affect change. But something certainly needs to be done. I unquestionably would like to be a part of the conversation to make a change, but we need to make sure we focus on the right thing. If we don't address the systemic racism embedded in the very core of our nation, policemen will continue unjustly killing black people. And if they keep saying our lives don't matter, events like these murders followed by the murder of the Dallas police officers will keep happening. The last thing any of us want is a race war, but as of right now, that unfortunately looks like something that could happen in the near future.
#BlackLivesMatter
