Yes, of course they do. However, it doesn’t always seem like it. This week has been full of news about unnecessary deaths of black people. The #BlackLivesMatter movement has been going on for quite some time now and it feels like we’ve made no progress in the right direction. There have been more negative than positive reactions to this movement, and it keeps making things worse. Some people refuse to accept that there is a race problem in America, because America is supposed to be a problem-free country, but there is a problem and it needs to be addressed. It is ridiculous that it takes unnecessary deaths for people to see that there is a problem. When these deaths do happen, people do everything they can to justify them and make the person who committed the crime look better. When in reality, the person should be punished for what they’ve done, murdering an innocent person.

Recently there was also the case of a Stanford student, Brock Turner, who raped a woman behind a dumpster. He was a young white male, and instead of bashing him for the awful crime he committed, the media brought up the fact that he was a star swimmer and student. Many people tried to say that he shouldn’t be sent to jail because he is a young boy who could be doing something much better with his life. They refuse to accept the fact that this boy is a criminal and that he will always be a criminal. But when Philando Castile was shot dead by a police officer after being pulled over for a busted taillight, people feel the need to dig into his background and suggest that he had a criminal past to justify the police officer’s behavior. Why is there such a big problem admitting who the real victim is in this country? Castile was shot to death in front of his daughter, all because he alerted the police officer that he had a concealed weapon while he was reaching for his identification. In the video shot by his girlfriend, you can hear the police officer trying to justify his actions while Castile is bleeding out, still pointing the gun at him and not doing anything to help the situation. The woman is then taken out of the car and put in handcuffs for no reason and people are still trying to justify the situation. In what world is it okay to kill a man in front of his daughter? Especially when the man had done nothing wrong? The police officer made an assumption due to the man’s race and shot him without thinking of the consequences first. Would the situation be the same if it had been a white man that was pulled over? Definitely not. For some reason, many white men only seem to trust other white men and then go ahead and say that there isn’t a race problem in this country. It is infuriating. This is another crime committed against a black man and people refuse to accept it.

Situations like this make it seem like black lives do not matter. That’s why there is the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the first place. Everyone knows that white lives matter, that fact is obvious enough. So, why don’t black lives matter just as much? Why is it so hard for people to believe that? Not every black man or person you see is a criminal. You don’t need to cower in fear every time you see a black man. Chances are, they’re just like any other regular guy. Treat them like normal people and they’ll treat you like normal people in return. Black lives do matter. They are people too, and deserve to be treated like everyone else. There is no need to justify a crime that is clearly not justifiable just because of the race of the victim. America is supposed to be a country where everyone feels safe, not a country where people of certain races, identities, cultures, or sexualities are afraid to leave their homes. Unfortunately, that is how many people feel. We need to do something about it and get to a point where everyone here is accepted. We are all people. We should not stereotype races or cultures due to other criminals from those cultures and races. We should all be treated equally.

Think about this next time you feel so cool for riding around town with that Confederate Flag on the back of your truck. I bet you feel like the coolest person in town, parading around all of that hate with you. Heritage not hate, right? Wrong. Before you go flying that flag around, maybe you should learn a bit more about what it represents. Flags aren't accessories. They have meanings. Use them correctly or don't use them at all.