In the time this was being written, 11 police officers have been shot while four have now been pronounced dead. This is happening in Dallas, Texas, in response to more recent killings of two older African American males at traffic stops done by cops in the states of Louisiana and Minnesota. These shootings in Dallas took place during a Black Lives Matter protest that was ongoing.
To start, let it be heard that it was not because of, a part of, or even tied to the protest. As long as facts to prove that the shootings were a direct tie to this protest, done by protestors, I will not tie them together. However, the fact that this response is seen as justifiable as revenge is beyond something fathomable. Not that the killings of these two men in the recent days are any more justifiable either, but how can someone see the videos of the shootings and traffic stops where these innocent men were shot cry out for change, but condone the shooting of innocent officers in Dallas, a city 1,096.8 miles from Minnesota and 348.1 miles from Louisiana (both distances per Google maps) and call it justified and deserved. I cannot begin to say I understand what any of those two families, or families of cops or just someone closely affected by this because I just don’t. I can’t fake that I understand oppression or racism or anything that puts one single person below another and being on the receiving end of it. I came form an affluent family, in a predominantly white neighborhood, attended white schools and did nothing but played sports my whole life. So, no, I don’t understand the pain minorities feel what seems like every single day in this country, but it doesn’t mean I’m not worried for what is happening.
When did it become the norm to overgeneralize as a society? Why is it okay to assume that a small portion of a large group of people stands for all of them? How did we let a man get so close to becoming a Presidential nominee help create this norm of grouping and how did we let a woman who has been investigated by the FBI become so close to the other nomination spot? When did fighting for justice and calling for change over social media become more important than doing it in the real world? When did differing opinions become nothing but words to start wars? Opinions are opinions for a reason, agreeing with another standpoint isn’t a must, but respecting another standpoint is. Listening fully and attentively is. Sure, the other stand may be a radical one or it may be wrong in your eyes, but that is no right to shun another person. When did everyone become so soft and easily hurt by other opinions? How did a once great and indestructible country like the United States, become so divided on every single topic to exist in the world today. Genders, race, rights, guns, family planning, not a single solution can be found to provide solace for both sides. When did middle ground become so hard to find, it’s in the middle isn’t it?
If you noticed that the whole second paragraph is questions, it's because no answers have been given to any problem we face. Our Commander-in-Chief can only offer up so many family condolences, and our governing body can only drop the ball on so many bills before trust is soon a long forgotten commodity. Generation Y, it's your turn to step up and try to start creating some change before it has become too late and that middle ground is now unreachable. Generation Z, it's your turn to become powerful voters on bills you call for and can help put into action. It's time people turned this country from the brink of a war zone to the United States once again.
