Everyone who pays attention to social media or any type of news outlet has already heard their fair share about Paige Shoemaker. My opinion? It was time to stop talking about her the day after her Snapchat went viral.
I was disgusted by the racist social media post of hers that went viral in less than 24 hours just as (thankfully) many others were. There are a number of reasons why her Snapchat was wrong, offensive and just downright disrespectful but because they have all been discussed thoroughly in many different social media posts, I do not feel the need to discuss them in this article.
As I already said, it was time to stop talking about Paige Shoemaker shortly after her name went public. Why? She got hers, and she got it very quickly. Not only is her name forever ruined, but many aspects of her life are as well and that happened in a matter of hours. Because of this, I don't believe it was necessary to continue to talk about her as justice was served fairly quickly.
More than that, there are more important injustices happening all around us. The same day that her Snapchat went viral, a young 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by Ohio police for having a BB gun with him. I was thrilled to see people supporting the black community so strongly, but where was the support for that young boy who was unjustly killed? I was almost as disgusted by the death threats towards Paige Shoemaker that I saw all over as I was by her Snapchat.
Supporting one another, especially in this day and age, is one of the best things we can do as people. What I saw all over social media did not appear to be supportive, but instead people finding another reason to bully someone on the internet and a chance for them to get their opinion out there, whether it was well thought out or not.
How can you support the black community and the racism they face? Talk about it, acknowledge it and educate those around you as well as yourself. Talk about police brutality, talk about the prejudices and discrimination still relevant. Speak out about the stereotypes you hear from day to day. Do not support politicians who are openly racist and bigoted.
What Paige Shoemaker did was 100 percent unacceptable, but on the long list of things going wrong between race relations at the moment, this is not at the top, it is not even close. Support the injustices that are harmful. Support the injustices that become deadly.
