What happened to this country that I know? We are falling apart quickly and throughout the last few years, it has shown. Ever since the Trayvon Martin and Sandy Hooks shootings, mass shootings have reigned supreme in America.
Those who support the police or the African Americans’ viewpoints of the shootings are broken into “Black Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter,” causing to people fight against each other over their beliefs. But, here’s the thing. African Americans are getting shot and the police officers are deemed as the guilty ones. But, we don’t truly know what happened on the spot. The story and who the bad guy is are chosen by different points of view. “Blue Lives Matter” people think that Officer Darren Wilson was trying to protect himself when he shot young Trayvon Martin in 2012. But, “Black Lives Matter” supporters say that Alton Sterling was only selling CD’s and he was killed out of the blue for no reason. That’s because the media likes to play games and they know there are two sides to every story. They love it when people fight, so they either make bias articles or exclude certain details to make Person A or Person B the bad guy.
Meanwhile, peaceful protests are echoing out in the street, with people crying and singing for change. That’s when ignorance and hatred take over. That’s when the country draws guns and knives. Riots break out in Dallas, Baltimore, and Ferguson because people literally fight for their opinion or they just hate each other for who they are. Riots have ended with cowards looting cursing with innocent bystanders and protestors, getting attacked and pepper sprayed. I live right near Baltimore and went to school outside of Baltimore and let me tell you, having a city that you grow up at gives you a loss of childhood. UMBC has a view of Baltimore and students saw fire and smoke coming out of Baltimore. And the fact that my mom and I left Baltimore after a doctor appointment right before the riots began is chilling.
On July 7, 2016, a peaceful protest at Dallas ended with five police officers getting killed by an anti-police officer sniper (which hits home for me by the way because when my father was a police officer until 2013, I was always scared that my dad would get shot and killed like his colleagues). This is where we’re heading. Hating each other for who you are or what your beliefs are get you killed. Either way, there is equal mourning, sadness, and weeping for the families & friends of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, and the officers, who will now have to bury their loved ones.
We need to unite as a family and be strong for each other, holding each other in open arms. We know that friendship will prevent hatred from going through.
We know that faith is our sword. We unite with hands up, hands together, and knee on the ground, praying for love, support, and peace to Jesus, our Savior and Lord.
We can honor each other’s different thoughts. We are all different people and we will all disagree. But, screaming and spewing curses can be effective as gunshots.
So, let’s embrace, celebrate, and take other’s hands. Let’s be there for each other and smile and kiss and laugh. When all of this happens, peace takes over.
Enough is enough.
