Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you've heard all about the shootings that have been occurring. You don't even need to turn on the news anymore, it's all over your social media pages. Clearly, the deaths of all these people create a very sensitive issue.
There are two major issues that I've seen people be either for or against. The Black Lives Matter movement and, most recently, the outrage over police officers being killed in Dallas.
The Black Lives Matter movement, from the way I understand it, stems from the fact that police officers were shooting and killing black people, often times for seemingly no reason. People argued that those who were shot were innocent and posing no threat. People started to believe that cops were just being racist and shooting based on skin color alone. Soon, people began to think that all cops were the same and were out to get black people, and eventually, the shooting of the Dallas police officers happened.
Since this is such a heated debate and a trending topic, I wanted to share my thoughts on the matter.
I will begin by simply stating: racism is real. It is alive and it is thriving in the United States of America. Ever since the terrorist attacks happened on September 11, 2001, we, as Americans, have been racially profiling people on a massive scale. The prevalence of racism grew out of fear. Fear of the unknown. As a society, we are incredibly close-minded. Many people lack the ability to see difference as a positive thing. Until recently, I was the same way. I grew up in this country, in a small town of mostly white people. A lot of the people I knew were racist. It's not that they hated them, or wanted them dead; they were just ignorant. They based their racism on the stereotypes they heard, and nothing else.
Until I went to college on the other side of the state, I was ignorant, too. Once I began meeting new people of all races and religions, I realized how incredibly stupid it is that we, as a society, judge each other so harshly. What upsets me the most is that we are so quick to demonize an entire race or religion based on the actions of a few extremists. It is so unfair.
It is unfair how black people now feel they have to be afraid of police officers, the same officers we are told to go to for help. It is unfair that just because of the color of someones skin, something they were born with, they will be judged. Now, more than ever, mothers and fathers are afraid to let their children out of their sight because they might not come home. They might be killed over something they cannot control.
It absolutely annoys me with how the media portrays people. They have no respect for peoples' privacy and no regard to what should be shown and what should not. I believe that the public has a right to know what is happening in America without a veil of bias surrounding the incident. The public should be able to decide for themselves what to believe, but when video is put on the news showing someone being shot and dying, it is so incredibly insensitive. That man or woman shown dead on the screen has a family. A family that is mourning a loss. How would you feel if everywhere you looked, you were reminded of that loss?
I will also say that common sense and compliance should be more common, but they're not. It should be common sense that you listen to a police officer and do as they say, but when you know in the back of your mind, there is a chance that this officer will kill you, for no reason, it's hard to not let rage control your mind.
I'm not going to say that I know what these people are going through. I'm not going to say I know what it's like to be the minority, to be oppressed, or to be judged based on something I cannot control. The only thing I can say is, actions speak a million times louder than words. You can post all over social media about how you are so sad about what's happening in America, but why should it stop there? Get out and do something about it. I'm not saying you should go riot, no, not at all. I'm saying that you should make an active choice to not contribute to the problem. Don't judge people just because of the way they look. Educate yourself, don't be a part of the ignorant masses that project hate everywhere they go. Practice kindness and compassion. Be peaceful and be loving toward one another.
This is your America, the America you will grow up in, the America you will raise a family in. You are the ones who can change it, for better or for worse. As Gandhi said, "you must be the change you wish to see in the world."
