In the wake of all of the shootings, riots, and innocent people dying, instead of writing an ill-worded and in-the-moment tweet about everything going on in the US right now, I decided to take a step back, wait a day, and then write a whole blog post to get all my thoughts out. Normally, I do not like to talk about this kind of stuff. I am more of a “handle every emotional situation with a joke” type of person, which is never appropriate in situations like this. However, this time, the violence and injustice happened very close to home, so it has made me a little more aware and a little more sensitive to this issue. Just a disclaimer for anyone interested enough to read this, these are just my opinions and thoughts on everything going on, and I do not mean to offend anyone.
What has happened over the past week is terrible. If I am being honest, I do not know the full extent of everything that has gone on, but I know that two African American men were shot by police officers and that a few Dallas Police Officers were shot in a protest. I want to start by saying that no one deserves to die the way these men did. I do not care which side of the fight you stand on (even though there should not be a fight to begin with), none of these deaths are okay. I do agree that the two African American men, from what I have read, were both innocent and the policemen who shot them do need to face the consequences for their actions. I also agree that something needs to be done to help protect other innocent people from police misconduct. However, I also believe that vengeance and retaliation is not the way to handle this situation. The two deaths of innocent African American men happened in Minnesota and Louisiana, so why were the police in Dallas, TX targeted and killed. Killing should not be followed by more killing. Justice is not making a wrong right by means of another wrong. Just because some African Americans have been violent towards police officers in the past does not mean that every African American will be violent toward police officers. Similarly, just because some police officers have unjustly shot and killed innocent men in the past does not mean that every police officer will unjustly shoot and kill innocent men.
Also, these horrific tragedies should not be used by anyone to spread hate or their political agenda. The people who were shot and killed were real people, and they should be treated that way. This is not a time to post about how we should’ve voted for a different presidential nominee, or how one political party has destroyed the country, or how one group of citizens are to blame for this mess. Do not use these people’s deaths to promote your cause or your beliefs. Our first concern should be the families of the men who were killed. If you are going to pray, then you need to pray for them because no matter how much other people may claim to be affected by this stuff, the families of the victims have suffered the most. Think about how insensitive it looks to those families when people are using their sons, husbands, or brothers’ names in order to further their own agenda. These men were loved when they were living, so why treat them like they were only pawns in a political scheme now that they are dead.
If you really want to do something about what happened, then call your legislature and try to get change. Use this event to change the world, not complain about it. I think Christians are the worst at this. We all say, “The world needs Jesus.” But are we showing Jesus when we bad mouth people who are anti-police or bad mouth people who are pro-police. No. Show love and forgiveness, not hate and condemnation. The African American community is outraged by these unjust killings, which they have a right to be, and people who support the police are outraged by these unjust killings, which they have a right to be, but just tweeting about how outraged you are or about how bad the world is right now is not going to change anything. Get out there and find a way that you can actually help, even if it is just as simple as showing love to everyone you come across. We need to find a way to prevent the deaths of innocent people. We need to stop focusing on the smaller issue of whether people support the police or support the African American community. It does not matter what group you support, everyone should be in favor of not having innocent people die. This nation does need some change, but that is not going to happen on social media. I know that sounds hypocritical because I am saying change won’t happen on social media while I post this on social media, but I am not trying to spark a massive change with this post. I am just trying to get all of my thoughts out and people can read them if they want. I’m stepping off my soapbox now.
The Life of Hayden 