Pay Attention

Yes, this world is full of crime. Every time I turn on the news, someone is getting robbed, shot, and/or stabbed. Unfortunately, that is the world that we all live in. It’s something that many of us have grown accustomed to and realize that in this world, there is going to be crime and unfair circumstances. However, I never thought in a million years that I would have to worry about cops being the ones committing acts of violence. It has never crossed my mind that we might be living in a world where citizens may have to defend themselves from individuals who are supposed to protect us.

What’s more alarming is the amount of people (ahem, white people) that walk around with blinders on and think that the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and various other Black men that died from the hands of a police officer, is not about race. Oh, really? Well, if it’s not about race, how come it’s mostly white officers killing Black men? If it’s not about race, why is it that Black men are the ones that have to constantly deal with racial profiling? If it’s not about race, why was the massive march in New York even necessary? If it’s not about race, why do we have celebrities speaking out about the injustice of Black men? If it’s not about race, why did we have white people on Twitter willfully admitting to getting away with crimes that a Black person would’ve easily been arrested for? The reason why these things are happening is because unfortunately, RACE DOES MATTER.

A couple of weeks ago, there was an individual on Facebook who felt the need to justify the wrongful death of Michael Brown by telling everyone in complete detail of what it takes to be a police officer. He elaborated by telling people about how cops have to put their lives on the line every day and that they go thru intensive training in order to deal with the outside world. I don’t doubt for one minute that cops put their lives on the lines each day that they put on their uniform, however, THAT CAREER PATH WAS A CHOICE. You CHOSE to become a cop. However, being Black, white, Asian, Latino, etc., is not something that a person gets to choose. When you were conceived, your race was already chosen for you without your consent. With that being said, a person should NOT be penalized for being Black. That’s who they are. See, a cop can choose to take off his uniform and decide to quit the force if he wants to. But a Black person can’t take off their skin color. It is with them for the rest of their lives and the minute that they walk out of the house with their skin color on, they immediately become a target for a racist, trigger-happy cop. So please know that Black people put their lives on the line just as much as cops do.

But…maybe I’m wrong. America, share your thoughts.

Sonica