Look, I'm not the best driver. I speed all the time, text and drive, and have been known to roll through stop signs. I know that "oh crap" feeling when those lights flash in your rear view mirror when you get puled over. Its a huge inconvenience, its kind of embarrassing, and it can be expensive. I'm extremely blessed, however, that I've never been afraid of a police officer. I can't imagine the knowledge that reaching for my license and registration could be the last thing I ever do. Police brutality has been an issue in the US for far too long, and its sad that the events in Dallas on Thursday night felt like throwing a match on a tinderbox. I am in no way condoning or trying to rationalize what happened, but people who feel helpless, powerless, and abused do extreme things to try and enact change.
Theres a whole other side to this coin. I can't imagine the courage it takes to be a police officer. Cops face life and death situations every day. Any call or traffic stop could be their last. On Friday, an officer in Georgia was killed when a man called in to report a break in at his house, and killed the first officer to respond. When the shots fist rang out during the Black Lives Matter protest, officers ran towards the gunfire and attempted to keep the demonstrators safe. These men and women are brave enough to wake up every day and go to one of the most dangerous jobs in the US.
This week feels like it could very well go down in history, for better or for worse. I think it's pretty fair to say that its going to be impossible to go back to the way things were before 7 innocent people were killed in the past few days. We have to come together, move foreword, and try to fix the many problems that led to these senseless deaths. The killing of American citizens by the police is tragic and must stop. The killing of police officers must stop. I don't know exactly what steps need to be taken to fix the problems plaguing this country. Maybe it has something to do with gun control or education reform. Maybe police departments initiate more community outreach programs, so they feel connected to the area and people they are supposed to protect, or maybe they emphasize how to deescalate a situation in training. There are many many possible solutions, but many involve changing policies, and the national, state, and local levels, and that takes time.
Right now, news networks sensationalize everything to make it scarier to boost their ratings. Social media works as sort of an echo chamber, meaning we follow people with similar ideas, we see those idea stated over and over again, which only strengthens our opinions. You can look on twitter and see people calling the Black Lives Matter movement a bunch of anti-white thugs, and you can see other people saying that cops deserve to be killed. It seems like we are supposed to chose a side, and irrationally hate anyone who opposes us. Heres the thing, I don't want to take a side, and I don't think that I can. Cops shouldn't kill people, and people shouldn't kill cops. Its not complicated. Both the African American community and the law enforcement community have a right to be angry, but that anger gets us nowhere. All this finger pointing and blame doesn't help anyone. Nothing good can happen until we heal as a nation, and the easiest way for that to happen is to stop letting extremist views divide us.
I truly hope that the deaths of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, and Officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Smith, Michael Krol, Patrick Zamarippa and Brent Thompson lead to something good. Maybe this was the wake up call that we, as a society, needed. Positive change is impossible, however, if we as a country remain divided.
