More violence, more lives lost, and still no change.
What is the matter with this country?
In response to recent events, all of which took place within about 48-72 hours, social media has been buzzing with hashtags and paragraphs and videos, and emotions are at a tense high. The following are my thoughts and reactions on these matters.
First, let's talk about #BlackLivesMatter.
Of course all human lives are priceless and special; however, various events/incidents and media portrayal of these events seems to be valuing certain lives more or less than others. This is why #BlackLivesMatter exists; it is not to say that black lives matter more than other lives, but rather that black lives matter just as much as everyone else's. For instance, when comparing two recent events -- rapists Brock Turner and Alton Sterling-- the former was reported with a yearbook photo of this white rapist and his swim times, while the latter showed a mug shot and past criminal records of this now deceased black man. Or more generally, why is race never pointed out in headlines regarding crimes by white people, but often they read, "... Black Man..." or "... Muslim...," and so forth? There is clearly a serious issue here involving racism and privilege. You are frankly ignorant or in denial if you believe that racism does not exist in this country. People tweet "#BlackLivesMatter" because, lately, it seems like the country needs to be reminded of that.
Some of the events in question above involved police brutality or some sort of unjust killing or crime. Yes, unfortunately there are many people in this world, including people like cops and other authorities, who are just not good people or who abuse their authority. However, it saddens me that some people are making generalizations based on these incidents that all police officers are terrible people and are out to get black people or what have you. On a somewhat personal note, the father of one of my best friends is a police chief, and my friend has been genuinely scared for his life lately. He is an honest, compassionate, respectful man and does what he can to protect and ensure the safety of everyone. Some officers, as in any occupation, are unfit for their roles, but many (if not the majority) are dutiful, honest officers who live up to "Protect and Serve," including the officers who were supporting and protecting the people at the #BlackLivesMatter rally in Dallas. However (as Philip DeFranco reported), one man unfortunately wished to take out his anger and frustration about these events on white police officers, resulting in the death of five officers along with the injury of several others.
We cannot fight violence with hate and hate with violence. Change absolutely needs to happen, and we must speak out in order to initiate that change. But most of all, we just need to respect each other. It is truly not difficult to share a simple smile with someone or to just generally be considerate of others. We are all human beings, we all live in and belong in this world, and we all have to do our part to end hate and spread love.
Let every interaction be filled with the same respect and dignity as the last. The world is not as hopeless as it seems.
