It’s rough being aware. The world is a scary place, but it seems less scary when you don’t understand. And I don’t understand, but I know a lot more now than I ever did before. I pay attention. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my innocent, ignorant days of childhood when war was a thing you read about in history books and the world was a peaceful place. In the recent past, various terrors have happened on our home soil. No one can quite explain why or how these acts were made.
July 5, 2016. Alton Sterling was a man selling CDs outside a local market when he was approached by a persistent homeless man looking for some extra cash. The homeless man called 911 on Sterling after Sterling showed him his weapon. When police showed up to the market to investigate and an altercation ensued, Sterling ended by being pinned to the ground and then shot repeatedly. The official autopsy shows he died from gunshot wounds in the chest and back; the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.
July 6, 2015. During a routine traffic stop due to a broken taillight, Philando Castile found himself shot four times by a Minnesota police officer. His fiancé, Diamond Reynolds, began recording the altercation shortly after the shots were fired. According to her, Castile announced that he had a firearm and a concealed carry permit but was reaching for his wallet to show the officers when he was shot. With her 4-year-old daughter in the backseat, the video shows Reynolds being removed from the car and forced on her knees. Throughout the video, Reynolds can be heard praying that what has just happened to her fiancé is not true.
July 7, 2016. As a result of the frequent shootings of black Americans by the police force, a large congregation of people gathered in protest in Dallas, Texas. As the masses came together to demand the rights of black Americans across the country, to put an end to these senseless shootings against black Americans by police officers with no consequences, and to remind everyone that Black Lives Matter, a trained military sniper, Micah Xavier Johnson, opened fire on the police officers there to ensure a peaceful protest; his intent was to kill as many white officers as possible. He killed five and injured nine more.
These acts of terror are not just happening overseas, but right here at home. People are scared to go out and live a life based solely on who they are, a factor that cannot be changed. We are imploding on ourselves. America used to be the land of the free, with no exceptions, but lately, she is reverting back to the days of racism, sexism, and every other form of discrimination. In a time that we need to stand together most, these acts are tearing us all apart.
The Black Lives Matter movement surfaced after the senseless murders of black Americans by police officers on duty. The nation is a great divide; either “Black Lives Matter” or “All Lives Matter.” But all lives have never been brought into question the way black America has been. After the Civil Rights movement, African Americans never fully overcame racism. Hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan are still in existence, and black Americans are generally held to a lower standard. Yes, all lives do matter, but the focus right now is on black lives. They are the ones being pointlessly slain by the police force and rarely avenged by the justice system. As in the case of Alton Sterling, the police officers were merely put on “administrative leave” rather than being held accountable for their actions.
All lives matter, this is true. But right now, we need to focus our efforts towards the lives of those who feel targeted. A mom should never fear that she won’t see her son after he leaves for school. A brother should not mourn the loss of his 13-year-old brother because of a misunderstanding in the park. A sister should have her older brother to confide in always, and not lose him at the hands of someone not held accountable. Black lives matter. These senseless killings cannot continue.
America boasts the slogan, “Land of the free because of the brave.” As an English major, I can attest to the fact that the word “free” is an all-inclusive term, and has no prejudice. If we insist on being the land of the free, why do we also restrict the individuals in which that applies? Black lives matter, America, and we cannot sit back and wage a second civil war refusing to accept what history has already fought for.
