While on vacation this week, I turned on the news and was absolutely shocked and saddened to hear about the Dallas shooting. America has gone down in turmoil over the past couple years, and it is time to make a change. To have to hear that five officers were killed and many others were injured shows that America needs to make some improvements.
Stop the discrimination.
Whether you are White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. your life matters. Our country has come far from dealing with racism, but not without its own problems still seen throughout our ever-changing times. Although slavery is now illegal and whites and black are free to go to school together, sit together and vote together, racism still plays a large part in American society.
Some parts are obvious, like when an old man makes a racial slur about an African American, and other parts are not so obvious. For example, some people have this prejudice in their mind that black men that dress up in hoodies are only ever out to hurt us or rob us. I think it is important to realize that this is the type of racism we must try and get away from especially, the one we may ourselves not even be aware of. We label people based upon their skin color, what they wear, etc. We judge a book by it's cover. But there is so much more underneath that we have yet to discover. Not every black man in a hoodie is out to get you, just like not every white man in a tie and suit is out to help you. We are one voice and one nation under God. We must stand together to stop hatred from growing and consuming our nation. We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
Give women equal pay.
I don't mean a female teacher should make as much as a male doctor, but rather there should be equal pay for an equal amount of work. If you have a female engineer and a male engineer with the same amount of schooling, work experience, etc. it makes very little sense that the man should be paid more. If a man and women have put forth the same amount of work to do the same job they should receive the same salary. Makes sense right?
Stop trying to justify hate.
I was outraged when looking online to see that some people believed the Dallas police officers deserved to be shot. They said that it was an act against police brutality, however, to claim that all cops are bad would be like saying all African Americans are criminals, neither of the two being true. Instead of deciding which of the three movements is most important (#blacklivesmatter, #bluelivesmatter, #alllivesmatter), we should decide as a whole that all three are important to creating change in America. It should not be a competition to see which one is the most important in the USA's eyes. We should work together to see that no matter your race, skin color, sexual preference, sexual orientation, etc. You matter.
