Let me preface this by saying that I 110% support police officers and the duties they perform to keep me, my loved ones, and others safe. In fact, the man who is a father figure to me is a cop, so not only do I support blue lives but I particularly love that life. However, several of those whom I also hold close to my heart are minorities—African Americans in particular—so I also support black lives. What I do not support in any way is unnecessary violence used against the other on either “side.” I also do not support the systematic racism that plagues those with dark skin, which has seeped into the justice system of America.

Now, before you give me the BS excuse of “but Deanne, not ALL cops are like that…” ask yourself how you respond towards Muslims and acts of terror then rethink that narrative. If you can condemn an entire religion of 1.6 billion people for the acts of a few (as in less than 2%), then sit down and shut up because it isn’t just a few cops in America practically executing innocent, minority lives over and over and over again without penalty. In fact, it’s estimated that police officers are only indicted a mere 3% of the time.

This is an immense problem that is affecting the entirety of our country to the point where foreign countries are warning their citizens about traveling here. When an entire movement is formed in response to the horrors that Americans who happen to have a skin tone other than white face daily, something is not right. We, as a nation, cannot ignore or oppose movements like Black Lives Matter and create excuses for police who have resorted to using unnecessary violence too quickly, which much of the time results in deadly force against minorities; this is despite video/audio evidence of such violence. Then people turn around with one major instance of that same type of violence towards police to fuel the false “War on Cops” story, while simultaneously hash-tagging BlueLivesMatter/AllLivesMatter on all social media and news outlets. See, that’s the thing, we can’t have it both ways. We can either admit that we have a massive race problem that has affected our justice system in America and try to fix it, or we can keep letting senseless violence occur on both ends and turn a blind eye to the obvious, then blame those who are typically the victims for fighting back. We can condemn those that seek to serve justice by unwarranted deaths, while still supporting the police and duties they perform to protect and defend us as well as themselves, while also supporting the lives of minorities. Don’t pick a side. Pick what’s right because saying things like “Not everyone is like that" instead of standing up to racism, violence, hate, bigotry, oppression, etc. wherever it may arise is wrong. This is especially true for those that are held in positions of power and authority—without moral compasses that power and authority turn into tyranny. There has become a mentality that “respect” is synonymous with “treating someone as a person of power” rather than “treating someone as a person.” With people who are used to being treated as such persons of power, such as police officers, that way of thinking has become even stronger. Police tell criminals and victims alike that if they won’t respect the badge, that they won’t respect them in return. However, they actually mean “if you won’t treat me and my badge like the all-powerful beings we are, I won’t treat you like a human being.”

What has happened to black people such as Rodney King in the 90s up to here and now with Philando Castile and Charles Kinsey are tragic events and are the result of many factors, including the hiring and seeking out of aggressive police, a lack of higher education requirements, as well as systematic racism. What happened to the police officers in Dallas is also a tragedy and is a product of several factors as well, which particularly include desensitizing the American culture to violence while flooding their senses with the idea that revenge and vigilante handiwork is the same as justice. Neither are to be tolerated, and we all should be working towards change to ensure that nothing like this happens again. But, is America actually trying? I would argue no.

All lives matter, yes. But newsflash, all lives literally can’t matter until black lives actually matter. No one is saying black lives matter more than other lives. What is alarmingly obvious, though, is that a white life matters more than a minority’s life in this country.

Let’s put this into a different perspective: say you, John, Jack, and Jane go out to a diner. Everyone gets their milkshake and plate of fries except you. So you say, “Excuse me, but I didn’t get my order. Could I please have mine too?” Then your friends interject with, “Wow you think your milkshake and fries are more important than my milkshake and fries?! What’s your problem, person-who’s-name-also-starts-with-J??” So you respond, “No? I didn’t say that at all. I mean, my order matters too, though, right? Heck, I even ordered before all of you!” Then you get the higher ups involved (here’s the metaphor for a cop in case you’re lost) who sneers at you with, “Well if you would’ve just followed the rules and ordered a Medium shake instead of a Large with fries then maybe you would’ve gotten it.” Then all of your friends start agreeing with him saying things like, “Yeah, follow the rules of the diner. Cooperate and you’ll get your milkshake with fries, gosh, it’s not that hard.” So at this point, you’re pretty pissed off—and rightfully so! You heatedly demand your milkshake and fries because everyone else got theirs and so should you! But, when the server comes out with your order, he aggressively dumps it on your head and throws fries at you. Then you stand up and scream, “People who want their milkshake and fries lives matters!” To which everyone else who doesn’t know what it feels like to be treated unfairly on a regular basis (AKA white privilege for those still not sure what’s going on) shout, “ALL people who want their milkshake and fries lives matter! SERVERS lives matter!” Notice how I used a diner as the metaphor since it’s like we’re still living in the 1950s? *cue sad laughter*

The point is that yes, absolutely all lives matter. However, we’re treating black lives like they mean less than dirt, so how can you really sit there and tell me they truly matter equally to that of the majority? If you actually believe that white privilege doesn’t exist then chances are you’re the one who has been profiting from it since you were born. No one is saying that you can’t have a hard life and be white, but I am saying that you don’t have a hard life because you are white.

If Black Lives Matter bothers you because it doesn’t say All Lives Matter, but Blue Lives Matter doesn’t bother you then chances are what really bothers you is the word black. If you say Blue Lives Matter and don’t mean that people who aren’t police lives don’t matter, but that you feel as if police officers are being unjustly targeted by a group of people then you always understood what Black Lives Matter meant and still means. You simply chose and continue to be willfully ignorant and hateful. Don’t forget, opinions can be racist so stop using “it’s just my opinion” to justify your bigotry.

Go out there and make a change for the better, everyone. Recognize your prejudices—because we all have them—and seek to change them. You are capable of changing your heart and mind. You weren’t born to hate, so go out and live a life of love.