Today we hear the cries of Lavish Reynold's daughter. We feel the wet stains of the tears that rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto the shirts of Americans. And if we don't feel it, we should. As her innocence lay tucked into the seatbelt in the back seat, it was quickly ripped away as four shots were fired into the man her mother dated. At four years old, she witnessed something that no adult would dare want to see personally. At four years old, she witnessed the blood of a man she loved ooze out of his black body while the officer stood still pointing the gun at him. We, as Americans, have made race such a big issue that we are willing to risk the sanity and innocence of children that most likely have no idea what is even going on. She has started her life being marked by a tragedy that she, or I, will never come to understand. FOUR shots. Forget the taser, four shots from a gun.
I don't usually speak my mind about racism, but this case hit me hard. What if that was your daughter in the back seat? What if that was your husband's or boyfriend's merciless blood shed that your child had to be a front row witness? One of the officer's held her tight and close in his arms, but that will never take back what she witnessed. If you have not seen the video of what takes place in regards to Philando Castile, I challenge you to open your eyes and ears but most importantly heart to the young girl sitting in the back seat. Her screams plead for America to mend the brokenness between races. Her screams plead for us to come together and reach out our hands. Her screams plead NO MORE. If we can't resolve hate for ourselves then do it for her. Resolve this hate so that no other child must be a witness to what she saw July 6, 2016.
Growing up in Sunday school they would always make us repeat the line, "Treat others the way you would want to be treated." Repeating this was aimed in the hopes of getting young kids to remember to always be kind to others. It's funny how we teach kids these life lessons yet we grow up and forget to practice them. We develop opinions and world views and forget the basic foundation of our upbringing. We were all brought up to love each other and to help others (assuming your parents raised you right), and we grow into egotistical human beings that turn our backs on each other. This is a plea to remember the young child that you once were, without hate and judgements. Remind yourself that we are all human and we all deserve to be treated the same. We are all capable of loving each other. Love CAN conquer hate if you let it, and that's what America needs.