Tragedy is an entity which America has been well acquainted with, especially in these recent weeks. One tragedy after another has made its way into the media. These tragedies have been circulating throughout the internet as well as on television channels, evoking sympathy, anger, and much curiosity; but unfortunately, it seems that the recent tragedy has also brought forth something insidious…something known as retaliation.

Within the past week, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling’s unjustifiable deaths, due to unnecessary police brutality and excessive force, have gained massive attention from the media. News of their tragic deaths sparked uprising and protests throughout the world as the murders were deemed hate crimes against black citizens which led to a protest in Dallas on Thursday night. This protest was not one of peace, however. The protest which, ironically, was in honor of protecting lives and stopping violence turned into a bloodbath that targeted innocent police officers, injuring 10 and killing five in a horrific act of retaliation.

Since the shooting, it has been revealed that the assailant’s motives for the massacre was because he was angry at white people and “wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” according to the Daily Mail. It is particularly enraging to hear that as the shooter’s reasoning behind killing innocent people who were just simply doing their job because like those killed, I am a white citizen. None of those who were killed had personally done anything against black citizens. They were not the ones who shot Castile and Sterling, so why retaliate against them? White people are not the problem. White officers are not the problem. The problem is violence. Unnecessary violence throughout America is the reason why, every day, death counts of innocent people are rising.

In taking away all this hatred and the idea of redemption and retaliation, we wouldn’t have to keep burying innocent people. People need to stop the idiotic segregation of the races when they declare things such as “black lives” and “white lives,” in declaring that there is a difference between the two races we are worsening the tension between the two. There should be no trending of black or white lives, instead there should be the belief and acclamation that ALL lives matter, regardless of one’s race, skin color, religion, or one’s occupation, which we saw in the targeting of officers in Dallas.

It is not to be dismissed however that yes, there are countless instances of inexplicable police brutality. While there are many twisted individuals who fail at doing their jobs as officers and instead wrongfully misuse their weapons and power, we cannot stereotype all officers as being that way. There are good officers who risk their lives to protect their communities, just like the ones targeted in Dallas. We rely too heavily on the media to tell us how to feel towards police when in reality, sometimes the media can bend the story. There are instances where victims of police brutality are portrayed as being completely harmless and free of fault throughout social media and news outlets, when in actuality they pulled a gun first or were indeed carrying weapons. While there are guilty victims, there are innocent as well; we need to stop letting the media tell us who to blame or how to feel regarding these incidents.

Violence is not an acceptable response to previous violence. Two wrongs will never make a right. Using savagery to fight savagery only results in more bloodshed and no solution. Even the family of Alton Sterling, upon hearing of the tragedy in Dallas, condemned the use of violence to attain peace. To ensure that justice is carried out and that the brutality ends, the races need to come together instead of killing each other! Sterling had a family, Castile had a family, and the five officers who died had families and due to violence and brutality, all these families have been broken. Stop breaking up families out of power complexes and retaliation attempts. All lives matter and we need to start acting like they do or more families will have to suffer. Stop the division and make America whole again.