When I hear more about the Dallas Police shooting and the hatred being displayed toward police officers everywhere, I fill with disgust and frustration. While I do not agree with the actions of the police officers in the cases of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, I also know that there are police officers everywhere that are doing the right thing and working to protect our safety. Whether it's going into homes to stop domestic violence, responding to calls of distress, or many of their other jobs; they risk their lives every day so that we can live ours.
The premise behind the Black Lives Matter movement is to end the unfair treatment of black people due to unfair stereotypes. They want people, especially police officers, to stop jumping to conclusions based on race. But the problem with their reasoning against police officers is that they are taking the actions of few and placing judgement on all.
In every group of people there will be a few that take their values and duties to the extreme. As a society, we tend to create stereotypes based on the stories that make the news. The problem is that these are the extremes, and often do not reflect what is the reality. We cannot use the actions of few to create our views on the overall population.
So how do we move forward? How do we create a safe environment for all?
Both sides of this situation have valid points, and it's important that we respect everyone's rights. We need to move forward as a society and be aware of what judgments we are placing on people. Once we become aware, we can begin to challenge these beliefs. Next, we need to not allow any job, title, etc. allow us to believe that one person is better than another. All lives are important, and all lives matter.
Things needs to change because taking each other's lives isn't helping anybody. How can anybody feel safe, if we're constantly terrified of who is going to take out a gun next? As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "An eye for and eye makes the whole world blind."
