Hi, for this blog prompt I wanted to address an issue that lingers my mind in my day-to-day routine. That issue is the police brutality, more particularly regarding black individuals. This is a problem that spans across the entire nation. Occasionally, there would be a news article reporting on the death of an individual by the cause of excessive force by the police. Often times I’d think to myself, “that was unnecessary” or “this could have been avoided.” And yes I do believe that a majority of these reports wouldn’t exist if *people were more careful and less confrontational.
As a young African-American man, there has never been a time where I had felt like I wouldn’t be negatively impacted by the stereotypes that are ingrained into our society by the media. In the portrayal of black people (particularly black men) in media, we’re often represented as thugs, drug addicts, and gang members. Certainly, there are individuals who are involved in these kinds of activities, but these individuals do not represent the group as a whole.
I’d also like to mention that there are a great number police officers out there who do their job accordingly. These officers risk so much every day for their citizens who may otherwise take them for granted. Unfortunately, these people have also been overshadowed by the actions of a smaller group of officers who take the spotlight, clouding our perception of the very people who are sworn to protect us. There are corrupted police officers out there who are prejudiced and racially profile individuals. They can outright abuse their authority as police through intimidation and excessive force.
The constant news reports of brutality from police can be angering to some and be desensitizing to others. Movements such as Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter have formed as a result to end the conflict, but fear has been instilled in the minds of many people involved whether cop or civilian and I worry that a stream of bitterness and hate will ensue between these two groups. In my opinion, think people ought to just learn to love each other unconditionally. Ideally, with that love coming to a mutual understanding, then there wouldn’t be any judgment based on the color of your skin or whether your wear a badge.
I’ll leave off with this quote: “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
*Note: the post’s headline says “…Tips For Black Men…”, but I honestly think this could be beneficial to anyone.
