As the nation mourns the deaths of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and the five officers killed during the Dallas attack, sentiments of animosity and frustration only continue to grow. This anger and frustration has embodied itself in how we have reacted to these events. There is a legitimate fear that has swept the nation; the fear that many African Americans and other POC will be wrongfully shot by the people that have been sworn in to protect them. As this increasing frustration sweeps the nation, much of the problem becomes misunderstood and convoluted. The Black Lives Matter movement is increasingly becoming undermined by those that respond with the phrase "All Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter". The fundamental understanding for the Black Lives Matter movement is being misrepresented by the media, which often paints the movement as violent or anti-police, when in fact it is only calling for equality for all, because if one entire race of people in the United States is not treated the same as another, then equality truly does not exist.
To make matters worse, the same conservatives in Congress that protest the BLM movement and are so quick to dismiss it as "anti-police" are the same people to block bills that are meant to help police and even our veterans. What many conservatives fail to recognize about the Black Lives Matter movement is that it does not translate to "anti-police." BLM means justice for all people. It means an end to the institutionalize racism that many African Americans face by police today and to reform a broken justice system and police institutions that allow for racism and police brutality to blatantly exist.
And while institutionalized racism against POC by police does exist, there are still many issues that contribute to police forces that are not trusted by the American public. Multiple scientific studies have concluded that police officers have some of the highest alcoholism, divorce, and suicide rates of any occupation in America. Being a police officer is an extremely high-stress job, and in many cases the American police system does not train its officers correctly to handle high stress situations. Local and smaller police forces sometimes do not have the funding or ability to provide correct psychological training to help officers deal with violent, high stress scenarios. Without the proper training, officers are more likely to shoot indiscriminately or will be unable to control their anger or adrenaline, which is more likely to lead to office involved shootings and violent encounters.
The BLM movement is so crucial in helping catalyze reform and change needed in our society. You cannot claim all lives matter if African Americans in the US are systematically murdered by police institutions that are inherently racist and fundamentally broken.
