I was debating writing about this at all. Partly because I wasn’t sure if it would be insensitive to victims and their families, and partly because I was afraid of backlash. I know my opinion may not be the most welcomed on this topic since I have never experienced anything like this before, but I cannot stay quiet. Reading all the tragic news this week, I have been feeling hopeless, but on this platform I am not voiceless, so here it goes.
Black lives matter.
I know it may come as a shock to some of you, but it’s true. It also may be surprising that I also think that all lives matter. Because they do. The #BlackLivesMatter movement is not one that says black people are better than other people or that they are the only ones that matter. The movement is one that trying to remind us all that black lives have value because they are often treated as though they do not in our country’s past and present.
We’ve had slavery when black people were literally treated as property, chained and sold like livestock. Then we had the Jim Crow Laws and the segregation of blacks and whites in the south when lynchings were not uncommon. But racism and mistreatment of black people did not end with the Civil Rights Movement in the '60s, it continues on today in countless ways. Until recently, I thought stuff like this only happened in stories like "To Kill a Mockingbird."
The #BlackLivesMatter movement focuses on, for the most part, police brutality. This does not mean that they do not care about the black lives that are lost in other ways like gang violence. It is just different, however, when black people are treated differently by the justice system that is supposed to protect them. I am not saying that all cops are bad because that is not true at all. I have friends and family who themselves are cops or have family members who are cops and I have so much respect for them. Their job is not easy and as we have seen in Dallas, they put their lives on the line everyday.
Just this week, however, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling have become the latest victims of such violence They join a long and never-ending list alongside others like Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Laquan McDonald. None of these people should have died, but they did because their lives did not matter to those who killed them.
Philando Castile was pulled over by a cop and was soon after told to provide his license and registration. When he reached for his wallet the cop opened fire, thinking he was reaching for a gun. His girlfriend sat in the passenger seat and his daughter in the back of the car, both watching as he died.
Alton Sterling was pinned to the ground outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge. One of the two police officers pinning him down said he reached for his gun. The officers opened fire and Sterling died shortly after.
Reading these accounts does not do enough. I have watched the videos of these deaths. I have watched Philando Castile slump in the driver’s seat while his girlfriend cries in disbelief and agony. I watched two police officers shoot Alton Sterling while he was pinned to the ground. I heard the gunshots. I saw the blood.
I know you may not want to see it. But you need to see it. Every American should watch their deaths, especially white Americans.
It is listed that 137 black people have been shot and killed by cops this year. Yes, more white people have been killed by cops (279), but that is because the U.S. population is mostly white (72 percent). Blacks are 13 percent of our population, therefore it is unmistakably true that blacks are disproportionately killed by cops.
Black males between the ages 15 and 34 are nine times more likely to be killed by police officers than any other demographic. They account for 15 percent of deaths from law enforcement in 2015 despite only making up 2 percent of the population. In 2015, black people were shot and killed by police at five times the rate of white people. It is hard to look at these facts and say that there is no legitimacy in the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
I do not personally get offended by #BlackLivesMatter because I know they mean no offense. I cannot fathom what it feels like to be afraid of other people, afraid of the police for something I cannot change. I will never know what it feels like to worry for my safety because the color of my skin. I will never know and I know many of you reading will never know either.
As a white person, I am privileged to not face this sort of violence and I think all white people should be aware of that privilege and recognize its significance. We need to have empathy for others in different situations. As white people, we may not know what it feels like to need a movement like #BlackLivesMatter, but we do know what loss feels like from our own personal lives. We have all lost someone and we should see that black people are experiencing loss too, only of a different kind.
I don’t know if we need to train police differently or if anything should be done for more systematic change, but I know we need change. I am not trying to offend anyone or make anyone angry, so please do not feel incited by my words.
I know many of you may feel that we cannot help, but we can. Be the change you want to see in the world. We should not be divided in this country. Not again. We need to come together to make sure that no one, no matter what race, gender, faith or sexuality is treated unfairly.
Yes, #AllLivesMatter, but sometimes we need to remind people that #BlackLivesMatter too.
