Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray. And the most recent two; Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. If seeing these names doesn't upset you, then you’re not paying enough attention. These are all black men who were killed by police within the last few years. Their crimes? Owning a jackknife, having a toy gun, jaywalking, and most recently, having a gun in an open carry state.

I am not here to bash our police force. A majority of the time, they are doing their jobs correctly and protecting the American people. However; there are a few of them who abuse their power and are not being punished correctly. For example, the two officers who shot and killed Alton Sterling were punished with one week paid leave. That’s basically a paid vacation for murdering someone. See the problem? Not to mention that police officers are only supposed to use their gun in last resort situations -- they should use their tasers, handcuffs, and pepper spray first. In nearly all of these cases, guns were used as a first resort.

Black Lives Matter. This tagline gets a lot of hate, saying that it’s racist towards white lives. I would like to clarify that by saying that black lives matter, we are not saying that other lives matter less. All lives matter, I agree, but not all lives are currently being threatened in the way that black lives are. It’s like running a 5k for breast cancer and having people on the sidelines yelling “what about kidney cancer?” Ridiculous, right?

Dylan Roof, the Charleston shooter, who brutally murdered nine black people in a place of worship, was calmly handcuffed and escorted away. There were numerous witnesses who said that Roof had committed the crime and shortly afterwards, Roof confessed to the shooting. However; his trial doesn’t start until January of next year. A black man who was selling loose cigarettes was illegally put in a chokehold and killed. A young adult walking down the side of the road was shot for jaywalking. A young boy who was carrying snacks back home for his younger brother while wearing a hoodie was murdered. These victims are seen as thugs, while Roof is seen as mentally ill and is calmly awaiting trial. DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM?

All day, the TV has been on Fox News, and the headlines of these recent shooting were allotted only a few moments, while the anchors talked about Hilary and Trump for the ten-millionth time. Two men were brutally murdered, but yes, let’s all ignore it and focus on the same topics that have been irrelevant for the past year. I am absolutely appalled that our country can wake up on a day like this and pretend as if nothing has changed. How can anyone go about their day and ignore the fact that another person lost their life for no logical reason?

These types of shooting and the protests that follow create a lot of tension between civilians and police officers. Civilians feel unsafe, therefore they may talk back and be on edge when they are pulled over for a simple traffic stop. The police are constantly being portrayed as bad people and feel the need to use more force to show their power. This cycle is dangerous and needs to be broken before more lives are taken.

America, we have a serious problem on our hands. We need to draw attention to it, we need to focus on it, we need to change it. Immediately. How many more lives need to be taken before we wake up and realize that it’s gone too far? I will not sit idly by and let this continue. I urge you to do the same. We have the ability to peacefully protest. We can create change simply by discussing the problem. We all have the power to transform our anger and frustration into action. We need to do so.