By now most people have heard about the shootings in Dallas, TX last Thursday. Five police officers were killed, and seven others injured, on July 7th during the Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Dallas. As soon as the attack happened everyone, seemingly, took to social media to post their own take on the attack as well as their take on the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile that had happened earlier in the same week. Several hashtags began trending, most notably #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter. Social media seemed torn between the two. It was as if someone posted #AllLivesMatter that this did not include #BlackLivesMatter and vice versa, inciting several feuds. My question is, where is the neutrality in it all? Are these mutually exclusive?
I noticed that those who were neutral to the situation typically would discuss wanting peace for all, or completely remained silent on all social media. Standing up for what you believe in these days is a scary thing. You face losing longtime friends, as well as acquaintances, and things could even escalate to cyber bullying. But remaining silent during situations just as these almost yields the same repercussions. On several Facebook feeds, I have read posts from several people exclaiming that if you did not post in support of either that “YOU are part of the PROBLEM".
This then poses another question, is neutrality the problem? Is wanting to remain neutral while others quickly divide leading us into a false reality? Should we have to pick a side? Radical perspectives from both sides of this argument want us to blindly do this; this builds their strength. But what if we don’t want to fight for them? What if we want to be neutral and see and respect both sides of the argument? Can we be Switzerland, or does the age old standard still hold that “if you are not with us, then you are against us”?
Until last Thursday, it seemed, in Dallas at least, there wasn’t a majority opinion. But after the problem struck home, our city was thrust into the whirlwind, thrown to different sides. Many people urgently want a peaceful solution to the problem, and many seek retribution. Those of us that remain neutral silently wait for answers to it all and hope that in the meantime we aren’t forced to leave our neutrality behind.