Lives matter. It does not matter if it is the life of a civilian or a cop. It does not matter if the person is white, black, yellow or periwinkle. Each individual life is precious on its own, and for some reason, society has forgotten that. The constant posts about “[insert race] Lives Matter” are making a competition out of what social group has it the hardest. It went from being a way to spread awareness of police brutality and black empowerment to “our lives matter more than yours.”
This is not just another police brutality informational session, and it definitely will not be another outline of each beating, killing or wrongful act done by the police over the last year. Hopefully, you do not live under a rock and are aware of the numerous cases that have been multiplying rapidly during the Obama administration. Instead, this article will be about the influence of social media and everyday people on how these cases are being perceived.
One thing that everyone can agree on is that police brutality is an unfortunate wide spread epidemic that needs to be put to rest. However what society does not seem to agree on, is the most effective way to do so. People all over the world have used social media and verbal protest as a way to express their disgust with unlawful deadly force but have yet to use these outlets to bring people of all kinds together. Instead they aid to the racial division by creating hashtags and sharing photos that re-victimize the victims and the only time people seem to support victims of police brutality is when they can identify with the same race as them. The truth of the matter is, broadcasting how a particular group of people has been wronged, and ignoring the unfair treatment of the other, will never defeat police brutality.
When acts of police brutality hit the press the first thing people want to know is; what race was the civilian and what race was the cop. When instead their reaction should never involve race, the minute you hear any human being has been harassed or killed you should give your condolences first and ask questions later. The loss of any life is detrimental and their race, age and/or occupation should not influence you otherwise.
You cannot fight racial discrimination with racial discrimination. If society continues to let acts of police brutality cause more racial separation, it is only adding fuel to the flame. Police brutality exists because the individuals who are affected by it allow it to. Whether the victim is Caucasian, black, Hispanic, Asian or anything else, the public should all come to their defense. Imagine if people of all shapes, sizes and colors stood up together and promoted the motto “People Matter.” If people all over the world learned to spread love amongst each other and those who do not look like them, racism amongst the police force might dwindle.
Civilians have a greater impact on the world than the criminal justice system would like to give us credit for. The last time the United States stood together in harmony they elected the first black president of the United States. Imagine the movement that can be created if people decide to work together to inforce the belief that people, all over the world, from every culture matter, and will not stand for wrongful persecution. People have allowed events of police brutality to retract them in the movement towards complete racial equality. Instead racial stereotypes have increased and before we show empathy for the family of a stranger we have to analyze who they are, what they look like and why they might have deserved to lose their life. Since when did someone ever deserve to lose their life? People matter. Hashtag that on your Facebook.
