"He's got a gun, he's going for the gun!" There were multiple shots fired. There was a stain of blood pooled across Alton Sterling's chest as his hands struggled in vain to stay in motion. The officers guns stayed trained on his inanimate body. I watched in numb absence of emotion as the incident concluded with the symbol of 'play' across the monitor from which I viewed the recording of Alton Sterling's death.
I had heard of the shooting a few nights before watching the video. A Pastor had concluded that regardless of our color, we are all accountable for the violent intercourse that plagues all efforts toward peace. When I heard of Alton Sterling's death, I had assumed he must have disobeyed the law and resisted arrest. I made the assumption that all police officers are inherently just and professional, when the truth is human beings are all born with the potential for prejudice, an insatiable rushes of adrenaline that inhibit our ability to use impartial judgment.
I am white, and most unfortunately I can guarantee that I cannot hope to fully empathize with the struggles and concerns of people of color in the U.S. I cannot know what I don't know and I cannot feel the fear that comes from seeing a white officer approach me while I am in a black skin. BUT, BEAR WITH ME. The concern for black lives is legitimate. And the history is real. Evidence has not officially confirmed the misconduct and incompetency of the officers responsible for Sterling's violent death, but society's response cannot hope to assist authorities in the proper investigation of this case if careless protest leads to more violent and aggressive action.
The Dallas incident of a sniper who killed five officers has countered the incident of the Sterling shooting. But on the surface, who's to say what is white or black? A light skin can still be African or Latino or Asian. A dark skin can still be European or Canadian. Racism is not white and black. Racism is a crude grey matter. It is a blur that comes from a lack of inhibition against violence. We, in the U.S., have come so far in the war for civil rights. We have even had a black President.
We, as a nation, need to approach this tragedy from the perspective of a generation that has been blessed with immense civil rights, achieved through the lives of all the people of all colors, the visions of men, women and children. We are not fighting against racist whites or blacks. We are fighting the inner self that corrupts our ability to protest peacefully. I am praying for Alton Sterling's family, and I am praying for the family of the sniper in Dallas. I am praying for the Officers who were killed in Dallas, and I am praying for the men who Killed Alton Sterling. All of these people were human beings that deserved the inalienable rights granted by the bloody wars our forefathers fought through.We need to learn from the incident and work with authorities to improve our system and our society by teaching the next generation to stop seeing grey but to start seeing color and understanding that it not as a component of ethnic identity, but a sublime mark of human diversity that allows every individual chance to develop themselves according to who they want to be. And we need to support our officers and encourage law enforcement to be the most professional and effective peacemakers they can be. Life is a process through which living things develop and evolve. Rome was not built in 24 hours and gold is put through the fire before reaching purity.
