The events of this past week—be it the shooting of Alton Sterling or Philando Castile by police officers, or the sniper attack on police officers in Dallas—have made several things clear about the tensions within and among our society. In the midst of these situations, it's easy to blame events on divisive issues: unchecked privilege, racism, terrorism, all of which play a part in such devastating occurrences. While yes, those are all integral parts of what's tearing our society and people apart, they aren't the root causes, and eradicating them requires eradicating what supports them to begin with.
That's fear.
Fear is the basis from which all of this grows. People fear those who are different than them, and they fear based on learned prejudices that evolved from both founded and unfounded fears. Wherever there's hatred, there is fear—fear for one's own safety, for one's family's safety, fear of change or fear of confrontation—you name it, and most negativity is motivated by fear.
The officers who shot both Sterling and Castile reacted to their situations in fear, and that is what led to the deaths of two innocent men. Unfortunately, officers must face fearful situations every day, and it's their job to overcome their fears and act with courage. To end violence where it is unnecessary, to protect and serve the public to the best of their ability. And again, unfortunately, the cops who shoot innocent people are not upholding their end of that bargain. These officers reacted in fear, fear that was potentially motivated by their prejudices where it would not have been acted upon in other situations. While I can't pretend to speak for the actions of those officers, I can speak for the actions of fear...and it is easy to imagine how a white police officer would respond in fear in an encounter with a black man. Not for any legitimate reason, but for years of learned prejudices and lies that have existed for centuries.
To combat this, we all have to learn to live without fear.
We cannot fear our neighbors because they are different than us. We cannot expect evil or hatred or violence because of a certain skin color or clothing. There will always be that evil and hatred and violence, but we cannot come to accept it, to expect it or to cease speaking out against it. We can be vigilant without suspecting. We can be careful without being afraid.
And as the Dallas shooting made clear, it works both ways. The actions of the shooter were also actions of fear. He took a side against law enforcement that was motivated by a fear of their actions against African Americans. But the good news is that we don't have to take sides when the enemy is a common one.
If we learn not to expect the worst from the law enforcement, they can learn not to expect the worst from us.
If at the very least we all learn not to fear others because of the endless lies that have led to racism and prejudices of all kinds, the next step will be learning to inherently love others.
If we can learn to love, then we can learn how to eradicate these issues plaguing us all as a society.
