I remember when hearing about a shooting on the news made people stop dead in their tracks. Now, it seems like it’s a weekly occurrence. I remember when the media didn’t portray cops as evil villains who are out to get us. Now, it seems like that’s all they have to show. I remember when it was polite to smile at a stranger when you made eye contact with them while walking past. Now, you look down at your feet. Why? Because we keep dividing ourselves more and more into different groups when really we’re just one big group and that’s the human race. We see someone who doesn’t look like us or doesn’t live like us and we automatically think that they’re wrong. When really, who’s to say that we’re right?

Now, before I go any further, I want to say a few things about myself. I am a caucasian girl and I’ve lived in the suburbs my whole life. I wasn’t raised to be overly religious, but I was raised to believe in God. And to top it all off, I’m straight. So, everyone would say that I’m a part of the majority. How can I even talk about things like this? Because we’re all a part of at least one majority group and that is the human race. We’re all people and we’re killing each other because of minor differences. I’m here to tell you, along with so many before me, that it needs to stop.

There’s too much hate in this country and it’s being fed to us by our politicians and the media. The candidates running for president know exactly what fears to play on in order to get votes. Once those fears are brought to the surface, they’re turned to anger and hatred because no one actually wants to admit that they’re afraid. So many people have donned a “shoot first and ask questions later” type of demeanor. To those people, that’s not helping this situation. If you’re already in that mindset, people are going to be able to sense that and they are going to react accordingly.

The media is also to blame for a lot of the violence with the police nowadays. With the recent shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge as well as Philando Castile and the victims of the Orlando shooting, I have never cried so much for people I don’t know. I agree that not all cops are good, but you cannot label all cops as bad people because of a few bad ones, when they go out everyday and risk their lives for our safety. Police officers should get respect; it should come with the profession. That’s just my personal belief. But I’m seeing more and more things on Facebook and Twitter about people trying to get a rise out of cops and recording the whole process on their phones. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I have so many friends who are going to school to be police officers and they have people telling them to change majors because of all of this! Being a police officer is one of the best things a person can do with his or her life. If they know that they don’t discriminate against African Americans, or anyone for that matter, then those people shouldn’t have to worry about getting shot because some police officers do.

There are seven billion people on Earth. This world is too small for that much hate. Please stop the hate. We’re all people and no matter what kind of differences we may have, we’ll always have at least one thing in common. We’re a part of the human race. I stay awake at night just thinking, why? Why can’t people just get along? Why can’t people just accept their differences and move on? You might find out that beyond those differences, you have something in common. So, I’ll say it again. To all of the people in this world, or at least to all of them that this will reach, please stop the hate. Stop the violence. Or, before you know it, there won't be a human race anymore.