If you have watched the news lately, you'll have seen some pretty horrific things. Two men, in two different places, were gunned down by cops for absolutely no reason. One of them was 37 year old Alton Sterling, who was killed on July 5, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and left behind a wife and 15 year old son. The other was 32 year old Philando Castile, a school nutrition services supervisor who was shot in his car in Falcon Heights, Minnesota in front of his fiancee and 4 year old son. What did they have in common? They were both black.
If you haven't already done it, I suggest you watch the videos taken during those events. You'll see that both men posed no threat to the officers or anyone around them. Castile was shot for doing what the officer told him to do. He was shot for reaching for his wallet to show the officer his license after being pulled over. His fiancee, Diamond Reynolds, recorded the whole thing and was very calm during the whole encounter, breaking down only when she realized that her fiancee was dead. If you watch the video, you can hear her daughter saying "It's okay, I'm right here with you." As heartbreaking as this whole situation was and is, this is the thing that got to me the most. The fact that a police officer shot into a vehicle with a child inside makes me more mad than I can even express in words.
The only reason police were even called to the scene in Baton Rouge was because of a 911 call made by a man who obviously lied. The manager of the store where Alton Sterling was selling his CDs recounted that a man kept asking Sterling for money and wouldn't leave him alone. The store owner said that the man then called 911 saying that Sterling was "brandishing" a gun around (when he wasn't). Police then proceeded to tackle him on top of a car and shoot him five times that you can hear on the video.
Cleveland police officer Nakia Jones posted a passionate response on Facebook. As a black woman police officer, she had some pretty important things to say to both sides of this war. The video is about 7 minutes long and displays an outrage that no amount of exclamation points from me will convey, so just watch it.
Why are we still dealing with racism? Why is it so hard for people to get it through their thick skulls that we are all humans? As a human being, I am absolutely outraged. As a white person, I am disgusted and ashamed that my race is the issue. My heart goes out to the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. I, personally, am sick of this. We have to change. We have to do something. We have to learn to live on this planet together or we will fall. As Nakia Jones says, "A house divided against each other will not stand."
