The recent shootings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and the Dallas police officers have brought back the awful feelings that many Americans have felt far too often in the past years. These men are more names on the list of people who were betrayed by their fellow Americans, which you’d think would make every person feel at least a little bit upset and unsafe. The outrage felt on social media has been overwhelming, but sadly it is not as overwhelming as the outrage after the gorilla was killed or Cecil the lion was hunted last year.

Thousands of people took to Twitter to express their disgust and anger over the death of Harambe the gorilla, who was shot in his enclosure earlier this year after a 3-year-old fell through the fence surrounding it. One man even going so far as to tweet, “Disgusting, should have shot the kid instead.... ‪#justiceforharambe.” Many more people took to the internet to write articles and post on other major social network sites, all about this one gorilla. Every news station and TV show were talking about it. Everyone had an opinion. It also seemed as if the majority were on the gorilla’s side.

Since when did an animal’s life become more important than the life of a child?

In the wake of the shootings of the young men in the past years, there has been less outrage by everyday people. I understand that many big public figures have spoken up about the recent shootings, but I'm talking about the people that spoke up about the gorilla but not the people being killed. The ones that can actually make changes based on their sheer numbers.

So why does our country seemingly value the lives of animals over the lives of it’s fellow human beings? Why is it easier to mourn the loss of a gorilla over the loss of a father, husband, brother or friend?

The answer is a simple yet sad one.

People don’t have to think too hard, change too much or become too emotionally involved with the death of an animal. When the gorilla was shot, there was a clear black and white reason to it. The argument wasn't over gun control or police brutality. It was just a gorilla. An animal. There was no wife or girlfriend speaking to the press. The gorilla didn't have children whose lives were changed forever. The death of the gorilla doesn't actually change any part of anyone’s daily lives. It does not provide any type of threat to you or me, nor our families, friends or neighbors. There were no protests or long-lasting effects because of it. They still get to argue, but it doesn't require too much out of them.

So it becomes easier to argue about animal rights rather than human rights. They argue that the parents be held accountable for their son falling through the fence but not the men who chose to take the lives of other human beings. They argue for more protection of the animals but not for more protection of the American people.

It got easier to mourn an animal rather than mourning our own people.

It is easier to rant about animal cruelty than to recognize the direction our country is headed. When you sit back and realize the magnitude of the situation, it can become overwhelming. It gets too hard to see police officers being killed by the people they protect. It is hard to see young men dying at the hands of law enforcement as well. Crying over a gorilla or lion is so much easier than crying over people being killed. When the people who are supposed to keep you safe become the ones you need to be protected from, the death of a gorilla should not even be a discussion, let alone a national debate. So people just push aside the shootings and injustices that occur because they don't want to think about what is actually going on.

They don’t want to recognize that their neighbors, friends, coworkers or even just other humans are being put in danger every day.

So they continue to rant and rave about the defenseless gorilla that was killed in its own enclosure. About the lion that was hunted for sport thousands of miles away. And it will continue this way until we wake up and start caring about the things that are important to our safety.

Gorillas are not our biggest issue. Our own people are.