Not Thinking About It

In the past few years, the topics of police shootings and relations between police and African Americans has been weighing heavily in this country. This is a picture I've had running through my head for a while now, and in the wake of the recent tragedies of #AltonSterling, #PhilandoCastile and the five Dallas officers, I decided to get this out now.

This piece is not meant to ridicule, dehumanize or condemn the police force, but instead to raise awareness that:

• even though the men and women of law enforcement are noble to take the role of protecting the people, it's easy to forget that they are people too, and are not immune from the causes and consequences of human error;
• any police officer who oversteps their boundaries in the line of duty should be held accountable for their actions, and;
• defending the police while denying these incidents, blaming the victims, or belittling anybody who is justifiably angry does not fix the problem - rather, it contributes to it, and in some cases it makes things worse.

Trivializing the opinions of protesters and people with genuine complaints about racial bias in law enforcement is no better than inciting violence against law enforcement officials - they're both wrong and they both accomplish nothing. It is possible to be grateful for the service police officers give to us while at the same time demanding that steps be taken to reduce and hopefully eliminate tragedies like these. Only through reaching out and understanding can we bridge this gap and change this trend for the better.