Last week was unfortunately plagued by gun violence. From Philando Castile’s traffic stop turned police shooting, to Alton Sterling’s fatal confrontation with two cops, recent police brutality has only fueled pre-existing racial tensions. In the past few years, certain police shootings have risen to media attention and become symbols of our imperfect justice system. For many years, but especially since 2014, this has been an issue at the forefront of our society. Most recently, the shooting of twelve Dallas police officers by a black military veteran has been a topic of heated discussion. Micah Xavier Johnson, a 25-year-old man from Mesquite, Texas, pulled off "the deadliest single incident for US law enforcement since September 11, 2001.”
With this overwhelmingly tragic series of events came a lot of arguments. While many could agree that all of the incidents revealed a flaw in our country’s social structure, some were less open-minded. Facebook users, political commentators, and even a former congressman tried to use the Dallas shooting to start a war. Some attacked the Black Lives Matter movement and Obama, claiming, in ex-Illinois congressman Joe Walsh’s words, “there really is a war on our cops.”
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Micah Johnson committed a deplorable crime. That isn’t in question. However, the violence-shunning tweets and posts that followed the Dallas shooting were one-sided. People were all of a sudden against brutality, but only when it was against the police. The violence had finally become too much for many people, now the gunman targeted someone seemingly like them.
So where were these people when Eric Garner was put in an illegal choke hold? Or when an unarmed John Crawford was shot and killed by police? Or when an unarmed and mentally-ill Ezell Ford was shot three times by a white cop? These are just a few of the injustices that caught national attention, not to mention the countless incidents that didn’t. If people are so against the shooting of innocent people in Dallas, why don’t they care about the innocent black lives that have been lost?
Maybe it’s racism, maybe it's not. Either way, we need to come together as a society to change our criminal justice system. It clearly isn’t ideal for anyone right now, and, when it comes down to it, everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law. Innocent people are being killed. Their race doesn't matter. Their socioeconomic status doesn't matter. Their history doesn't matter. This issue is affecting us all, and will never change if we don't focus on whats really important: our protection and safety.
