On the week that America celebrated its 240th birthday, and the freedom it prides itself on, we have been faced with the loss of many lives. These lives can be added to the long list of lives lost due to some form of injustice. A list that grows drastically each day.
At the beginning of the week, two men were killed after a traffic violation and responding to a 911 call to find a man selling CDs. These men were Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Later this week, five officers were fatally shot in Dallas by a sniper - which has been labelled the most deadly attack on law enforcement since 9/11. The names of all these men are Lorne Arhens, Michael Smith, Michael Krol, Patrick Zamarripa and Brent Thompson. This compilation of deaths are unique because they include the lives of both men of color and police officers. These deaths do not include, however, the number of other deaths across the country that span race, gender and religion as a result of gun violence.
How after all this tragedy and heartbreak can we trust the outside world? How can we stand together in the days to come to create a better world where these tragedies do not happen? Where you have the freedom to safely live your live without being profiled based on your race, gender, religion or profession.
Many will be confused; by their anger and hurt from these losses, and lose sight of the true issues at hand. The discussions of gun violence and excessive force is an American problem that needs to be at the front of our agendas. Therefore, I want to make sure to clear a few things up.
The Black Lives Matter is not an assault on your life. It is not a call to arms against police officers. Nor is it an attack on police officers who work hard to serve their community. It is not a call to join in hate against any group of people. Nor is it a exclusion of any other lives regardless of the color of their skin, the way they chose to worship, or their different struggles in this world.
The Black Lives Matter movement is a chance for the the black community to speak out against racial injustices suffered by its members, one which is police brutality. It is a chance for the black community to speak up for themselves, and work with others groups; including law enforcement, to improve the daily lives of the black community and their children to come. The goal is to unite or nation not divide it.
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” - Ghandi
In the wake of these tragedies we must look to each other and see that it is love we must foster. We must open our eyes to see the injustices around us and use our voices to speak against it. We must not let anger cloud our judgement and prevent us from seeing the real issue. When there are people who live in constant fear for themselves and their loved ones because of racism and stereotypes there is a problem. We cannot judge the many based on the actions of the few. We cannot allow for a society that uses the crimes of a few black men to look down on all black men any more than we can allow for one that hates all officers based on the wrongs of others.
If you are still reading this please know there is no pro-black = anti-cop or pro-cop = anti-black agenda at play. The desire is to discuss gun control in order to minimize gun violence in America. There is only the desire for both parties to come together and fix the problem that has hurt so many. Do what you can to be the solution.
