Hello,

This is a letter to all of the officers involved in the killings of innocent African American in the recent past. To those who played the role of the Fates and took the lives of men and boys such as Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice and countless others who didn't make the headlines.

While many openly grieve the losses of these young men, and discuss large problems such as institutional racism, Black Lives Matter, etc., I want to know more about something we don't hear about in depth: you. The police officers as people. It is surprising how little we hear about your backstories in the news; most of the time we only hear your name in passing. Of course, there will be those who want to know nothing about you. Because to know something about you would humanize you; something most people would probably agree a cold-blooded killer doesn't deserve. Yet, while people speak of racism on the large-scale, they tend to ignore it at the individual scale.

I have to wonder: how did you get here? What was your childhood and adolescence like? What kind of things did you like to do? I imagine you must have experienced some form of injustice growing up. Perhaps you were bullied at school. Or worse, perhaps by your own father. Maybe you had to watch him beat your mother while you were huddled, powerless. I bet this left you bitter, full of simmering rage. Maybe at school you got to get a taste of power by putting down those who weren't like you, and as an added bonus, strengthening the bonds with the ones who were. Maybe you felt threatened by the African American students who were doing better than you in class and in athletics. You remember your father grumbling about the black man who got promoted over him because of affirmative action and how it wasn't how things were supposed to be.

Fast forward to the moment you are about to kill. Imagine having your hands on your "criminal's" throat or your finger already pressing on the trigger. What are you feeling? What are your thoughts? Is your heart racing? So often, your actions are defended with the statement: "I was in fear for my life". So at this instant do you feel like the predator or the prey? In other words, do you feel blood-lust and a sense of, what you may consider, much overdo power?

I ask these questions because you as individuals, especially as enforcers and representatives of the law, have as much of a duty as the rest of us to critically reflect on your beliefs and actions. And I mean really think about it. Mentally opening yourself to your past, no matter how painful and vulnerable, is the only way to discover the root of your racism.

I do not want to ignore the fact that many white people are killed by police officers, as well. Any of the aforementioned scenarios easily could have been done to an unarmed white man, and far too often they have. Nonetheless, it is without question that African Americans have a history of being targets of prejudice by the judicial system and police brutality far more than white Americans do.

There will be those who bitterly ask: "But aren't more white people killed by cops than black people?" In a way, yes. However, The Washington Post cited a study that found one has to take into account the sizes of the populations and the overall percentages:

"According to the most recent census data, there are nearly 160 million more white people in America than there are black people. White people make up roughly 62 percent of the U.S. population but only about 49 percent of those whom are killed by police officers. African Americans, however, account for 24 percent of those fatally shot and killed by the police despite being just 13 percent of the U.S. population.

As The Post noted in a new analysis published last week, that means black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers. U.S. police officers have shot and killed the exact same number of unarmed white people as they have unarmed black people: 50 each. But because the white population is approximately five times larger than the black population, that means unarmed black Americans were five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by a police officer."

Officers, we the people care about you. We ask that you honor the oath you took, and let it be honor for all of those us whom you protect and serve, regardless of the color of our skin:

"On my honor,
I will never betray my badge,
my integrity, my character,
or the public trust.
I will always have
the courage to hold myself
and others accountable for our actions.
I will always uphold the constitution,
my community, and the agency I serve." (IACP.org)

For those that have honored this pledge, there is endless thanks for you, as there should be for all good people of the world who fight diligently to add to the peace rather than the violence.

Rather you be cop or citizen, consider this: How willing are you to take a human life?

Does a badge make it easier to kill? Were you trained to shoot first ask later? For those citizens who retaliate by taking a cops life: did you know those officers? Did you feel that they personally deserved to die? Or were you just ready to kill? Where do you draw the line between martyr and murderer?

Regardless of skin color, occupation, regional residence, etc., how have we come to this place, as humans, that fear has allowed us to violate the sanctity of life? Who gave us this power, and what are we so afraid of? Each other? I fear for our future more than I fear any individual.