Within the last few months, America has been shaken by tragedies. First Christina Grimmie being shot at a concert, then the Pulse nightclub mass shooting, and now Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the officers in Dallas. All of these ghastly events have taken quite the toll on America. It’s hard not to wake up with a heavy heart, concerned about what could happen. We live in a country of freedom but where do we draw the line? No one should live in fear. No one should be worried about being killed by an officer, a person in uniform who's sole purpose is to protect us. No one should fear going to the mall, going to a club, going to a concert, things that many do in their daily lives.
The violence needs to end. The grouping of people needs to end. Not all police are “evil.” Not all people of color are “thugs.” You can be against police brutality without being against police. These are two separate ideas. You can be against the violence occurring without being called a racist. At the end of the day, the violence against innocent people needs to end. We need to come together as a nation and rally for what is right. We need to come together and save the lives of innocent people. We need to come together to protect each other.
The concept of gun control is one that is very complicated and can ignite many politically heated debates and although this should be a focus of ours as a nation, we need to focus on coming together as a community. No one deserves to have their life ended so abruptly. No one deserves to not get the chance to live their full life. I do not want to live in a world where I fear that when I have children, they have to experience the tragedies that are occurring daily. We are all humans. We are equals. We are all important.
Although a solution is not as simple as we’d like it to be, I want to live in a nation where we fight this terror. I want to live in a nation where we no longer live in distress. I want to live in a nation where we are seen as equals no matter what our gender, race, sexuality, etc. is. I want to live in a nation where we can come together and make a difference. And I think that if you are reading this, you want the same thing. So get out there, make a difference in any way that you can think. Use these horrendous events as platform to speak your mind. Voice your opinions. Be inspired. It is up to us to stop this and I know, when we all band together, we can make our country great again.
