A wallet. Sleeping. A pack of Skittles. A cell phone. Loud music. Cigarettes. Cigarellos. Shopping at Wal-Mart. A toy gun. Failure to signal. CDs. Driver’s license.
Following a very proud and patriotic weekend, we are met yet again with tragedy. Back to back murders of innocent lives by police. A father in Baton Rouge, and a boyfriend in St. Paul. Hundreds of miles apart, but connected by the unfair treatment of African Americans, especially when faced with the legal system.
Time and time again, it is evident that there is an inherent racism that still exists. The only correlation between any of the victims is that they are black, and were killed by white police officers. The victims were not doing anything wrong. They were not harming anyone or themselves. And yet, their lives were taken by servicemen.
We live in a time where “hands up, don’t shoot” is taught to children, where people fear when their time will come. When will we realize enough is enough? When will they stop killing the innocent? How much more Black blood must be shed. They may be white but they are far from pure.
We must stop associating the color of the person to what colors used to represent. No more “white means innocence and black is evil”. No color can determine character. Sterling was a father. Castile was a boyfriend and a cafeteria supervisor loved by kids. Both were sons, brothers, cousins. They are more than their skin.
The President even shared his thoughts on the recent tragedies, “to be concerned about these issues is not political correctness. It’s just being an American.” He is right. It does not matter what the color of their skin is, they are American. Wasn’t it our forefathers that stated “all men are created equal”? Dr. King affirmed that no man “should be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Where is the equality today?
When will we learn that violence breeds violence, hate incites hate, and fear spawns fear? The same goes for positive emotions, kindness, love and respect. Why don’t we spread those as easily? Where has our humanity gone? Now officers in blue have been killed as well, without justice, without reason, just as innocent as you, me, Sterling, and Castile.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, well we're working our way there. If we cannot change our ways, what is the legacy we leave behind? More fear? More animosity? More violence? By then, there will hardly be anyone left. No one is safe if we do not change our ways.
To say that all police are brutes is to say all blacks are criminals and all whites are racist. Enough with the hasty generalizations. It's time to revert back to deductive reasoning. I urge you to reference Maslow's hierarchy of needs. All living creatures need 5 things in order to thrive. Black people are living creatures. Therefore, Black people need these 5 things. They deserve them just as much as anyone else
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Our society is not providing African Americans with the basic human necessities to live; the constant degrading comments and mistreatment and pain we inflict on them stop them at the third tier, if they even have the first basic ones. We are trying to keep an ancient class structure alive based on race, but there is a reason that it is ancient. It should be left in the past where it belongs. We must evolve from our old ways and begin to see Blacks for what they are, our equals.
Albus Dumbledore, the beloved Headmaster of Hogwarts stated, “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.” I will not narrow this one intersectionality group, not race, religion, gender, political view, but I believe that all lives matter. No life is more or less important than any other. But there is an obvious unfair treatment of a certain race, and to stand by and allow it to continue makes us just as bad as the perpetrators. What most people fail to see about the Black Lives Matter movement is that is not declaring the importance of Black lives over another race, but it is trying to say “we are here, we are important, too”, and most people overlook that. It is not a competition for a superior race. If we are to achieve any sort of progress or protection for African Americans, we must all work together. It is not only our American duty but our human right as well. We must care for each other as our own. We must have compassion. We must stand with Black Lives Matter in order to achieve justice and equality. They have already faced enough, why do we keep torturing them.
If you are interested in seeing the Black Lives Matter perspective from a smaller, everyday scale, please follow the link: https://twitter.com/unpIeasants/status/75094232108...
