We need to talk about something that is destroying our country at its core. No, I’m not talking about Trump or Hillary. Not about the politics and the lies, or the government. I’m not even talking about the conflicts pertaining to gun laws and illegal activity in our society. All of that can be left out right now.

I’m talking about the complete lack of respect for the people who give their lives to protect us in our streets. There is this horrific thing happening in our society that makes me sick. Police officers are being murdered. By our own citizens. For “revenge.” Let’s start at the root of this evil.

First of all, there will always be bad people. There will be malicious people and dumb people. And there are good people who make mistakes or are misled. There can be law enforcement officers out there that unfortunately do not respect their duty enough to do the right thing, but that is a very small percent. The majority of law enforcement takes their job seriously and does the right thing every day. So how is it okay that when a small percent of law enforcement takes their job to the wrong level that they are all put in this grouping that they are out to hurt us? The oath of a police officer is to protect their city, to ensure a place free of fear or harm. And in order for them to follow through with this oath, they have to face fear head on and put themselves in harm's way. Every. Single. Shift. They don’t leave the station in their police cars with the mentality that they are out to kill someone. The last thing they want to do is fire a gun. But do you know why they would have to do so? If they are in line of harm or threat of death. Their oath is to protect the citizens but the main concern is that they protect themselves, because without them, we have no one to protect us. They have families to come home to. They have lives to live outside of work. But they also have the mentality that it is their job to protect everyone first–because it is. That’s the stem of their career. It's in their blood, they are protectors.

So I’m sorry, but when people don’t listen to directions or don’t respect authority, they are encouraging things to go sideways. I’m not saying that every victim of a death involving a police officer got what they deserve–definitely not. What I’m saying is that maybe we are never getting the whole story. Headlines are misleading, videos can be cropped to make it seem like a different story and people believe the first thing they read on the internet (see article “Facebook Is Not News").

Regardless of what happened to an individual, whether they did something or nothing, to make their unfortunate end happen, revenge is not the answer. Hatred of the police force is making things worse. Protests never work. While expression is valued in America, lack of respect is not valued. Threatening others just because you’re pissed off is not valued. This mentality of “fighting fire with fire” is not the answer. Two wrongs don’t make a right and separating each group of people by saying “black lives matter” and completely discerning the heroes, is ruining everything our country was built on. Police lives matter. All lives do, yes. But when people run a campaign and protest and threaten those who are our protectors, I lose every ounce of respect and sympathy. If you are threatening someone’s life, you aren’t respecting that any lives matter at all. Do you see this pattern? People get killed, supporters of that person get angry and thinks the answer is to kill someone who is against them. That’s not logic, that's just ignorance and injustice. I would have more sympathy for those that are victims of “police brutality” if the rest of the country would stop using that as an excuse. There are reasons there are laws and punishments. There are reasons there is protocol to follow, because if there isn’t, things go wrong.

So what I’m asking of everyone is to please stop with the ignorance and hatred. Be upset, feel sad and sympathetic. But don’t go blaming all of law enforcement for one person’s mistake. Don’t go blaming one race for their mistakes either. Realize everyone is human, everyone has someone who loves them with all of their being–whether it be a mother, a sibling, a lover, or a child. And don’t use anger as an excuse to take away someone else’s right to live.

All lives matter, but police lives hold a special place in my heart, so I hope that America can learn some understanding and fill their hearts with love as well.