This has been a very difficult week for many people. Across the nation, police have been blatantly murdering people of color, sparking peaceful protests in dozens of cities from the Black Lives Matter movement. Meanwhile, in Dallas, one lone gunman retaliated, killing five officers. While I will not and cannot condone the actions taken by the Dallas shooter, the want for violence against the oppressor is an understandable reaction, and make no mistake about it, the police force is an oppressor. When I or any other white man gets pulled over by a police officer, it sucks. It can ruin our days. We might even get fined. But for people of color, the situation takes on a whole new tone. Suddenly what would only put a damper on our day becomes a life or death situation for many. People of color must adopt a strategy for survival when interacting with police officers, and it doesn’t allow for arguing for your rights. It doesn’t allow showing disappointment with a ticket. Anything other than, “Yes officer,” is not allowed, lest you possibly end up in a nightmare scenario.

The police force as it stands is a racist institution, upholding laws that unfairly impact Black people and other minority groups in America. This can clearly be seen in hundreds of ways. A clear example can be seen in marijuana arrests. Surveys conducted by the ACLU show that White and Black Americans use marijuana at similar rates, with Whites using it slightly more commonly than their black counterparts in every single age-group. And yet, Black people are arrested for marijuana crimes four times as often. This shows without a doubt that the laws each and every cop is sworn to uphold are unfairly targeting people of color, leaving White America as strong as ever. With this in mind, there is no such thing as a good cop. Whether it be with full knowledge, or complete ignorance of the violence and racism they’re perpetuating, every police officer is upholding systemic injustice. And the injustice doesn’t stop at arresting minorities. When a police officer brutally murders an innocent Black person, pinned on the ground, and in front of multiple cameras, they do not get arrested, they do not get charged, they do not get thrown in jail where they belong. No, they get placed on paid administrative leave until an investigation can be done. This habit of providing officers suspected of crimes paid leave shows the corruption in the systems core. Unfortunately and tragically, this presumption of innocence is not present for the people of color that make up so many of their victims.

Much of the media’s response sickens me. The right-wing argument that “Blue Lives Matter” is ridiculous and offensive in many ways. Implying that the choice to be a cop is equivalent to being born black is outrageous and ignores centuries of racist regimes and laws. Meanwhile, many on the left argue that you can support people of color while also supporting the “good cops”. They often highlight photos of police officers donating car seats to low SES families, or playing basketball with kids in a park. It is images like these that show there are good people out there who, because of a lack of understanding, are police officers who probably believe they’re helping. This does not make them good cops. When they aren’t donating to families, or playing with children, they’re out there upholding the same racist laws as the others. They’re out there not condemning the violence perpetrated by their brothers and sisters in the force. There is no fixing this from the inside. The people meant to protect all actively harm and kill black people. Cops aren’t necessarily racist, but the PD is. The nation’s justice system is.

And the toughest thing about this? For me, it’s that I don’t know what to do. I absolutely cannot think of a solution to this problem. There are over a million police officers in the country. Deconstructing racist tendencies and reforming an inherently racist system will never be an easy task. The prospect of disarming an incredibly heavily militarized police force is daunting, and will face the backlash from both political parties and heavy criticism every time any major crime happens, and even then, I don’t know for sure if that would work. Unarmed police officers will still disproportionately target people of color. If a police force is to continue existing as it does, officers must learn to de-escalate situations rather than pull their gun. So much of this situation is confusing and difficult. The only thing I know for sure is that people are dying, and the people dying are far too often innocent people of color. My Black and Latinx friends fear for their lives around police officers, despite doing nothing wrong.

Something needs to change, and it needs to change fast. Rest in Peace, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and everyone else who has needlessly lost their life from police brutality.