Terror attacks kill dozens in Orlando and Nice. Two men are shot and killed, the videos of their deaths going viral. An autistic woman is held against her will in a dog kennel, forced to commit sexual acts against her will. Police officers, who risk their lives for our safety, are gunned down.
It's safe to say the past several weeks have been hell. A wave of nausea washes over me every time I turn on the news or scroll through my Facebook feed. I'm afraid to see what other tragedies have happened because of hate. I feel like I have something stuck in my throat when I watch videos of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. I get chills when I read about retaliatory attacks on police officers, and I feel absolutely sick as I hear more details about the woman being kept in dog kennel with only a bucket in Amite, Louisiana, a mere 20-minute drive away from my university. My heart aches and my chest feels tight when I think about all of the families affected by violence this summer. What makes me truly angry, though, is when people try to twist these devastating current events in order to fit their own political agendas, inciting even more division with hateful rhetoric. Why do we think we have to pick sides?
I've seen people dismiss the cries of members of the African-American community in response to these tragedies, saying the discrimination they are claiming does not exist. But all we know is what we've experienced ourselves, right? For example, I am not African-American, so how would I know the struggles faced by the black community? I've never feared for my life at a traffic stop. My parents never coached me on what to say to members of law enforcement so I don't get shot. It is simply not my place to say that prejudice and discrimination does not exist. Nobody outside of the African-American community is qualified to make that statement. That would be like a dentist saying you need contacts. I know nothing about what it feels like to be treated like less of a person because of my skin. All I know is that when I hear my friends talking about being afraid for their lives just for walking outside their doors, my heart aches. My sheltered, small-town mind just can't wrap itself around that. It is unacceptable for anyone to feel that way.
The answer is not more violence, especially against police officers who are just doing their jobs to try an make our world safe. Making generalizations about an entire group of people, or treating them a certain way based on their job, race or religion is wrong. More hatred and violence will solve nothing; it will just increase the amount of pain in the world, which is the last thing we need.
People seem to believe that you have to pick sides when things like this happen, which is simply not the case. These issues aren't two-dimensional; it isn't just black or white. You can care about the lives of minorities and still respect the police. You can support gun ownership and still abhor mass shootings. You can be concerned about police brutality and still love the boys (and girls) in blue, praying that they come home safely every night. These things aren't either/or, no matter how much the establishment and news outlets pressure us into believing so. You can grieve the losses felt all over the world without picking a side, because at the end of the day, aren't we all on the same side?
I am on the side of humanity, celebrating all of its diversity and beautiful cultures. I am on the side of acceptance and love. I am on the side of being kind and respectful to everyone I come across, no matter their background, skin color, occupation or religion. I am on the side that still strives to see the light in the world, even when the skies are dark.
We are all just people, trying our best to fumble through this thing called life and fill it with as much happiness as possible. There are no bad guys or good guys; this isn't grade school. There are billions of unique individuals in our global community, but I believe we have far more similarities than differences. The world is filled with people who believe they are doing what's right for themselves and their families.
I pray for my friends and loved ones in Baton Rouge, as well as everyone feeling pain because of hatred and violence around the world. I encourage everyone to do the same, or at least send positive, peaceful thoughts if you aren't a praying person. I don't know what the right answer is, but I do know there is one definite wrong answer: more hate.
