It confuses too many, how someone could oppose killing innocent people equally – whether because of a hoodie OR because of a badge.
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There is zero excuse for police abuses.
And there is zero excuse for the tragic murder of two NYPD officers today.
Their names were Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. Wenjian Liu got married 2 months ago. Before he and his wife could even send out their wedding’s thank you notes, his wife is now a widow. These were two men with families. But they were seen by a lunatic to represent nothing but oppression; only because of the uniforms they wore.
Individuals are not their uniforms or a representative of any whole. That is such a simple, childhood lesson. That’s a lesson that helps stop us from dehumanizing each other.
Whether it’s a badge or a hoodie, or skin color or class – this is where the prejudice and hate begins, and where our reactions determine the future.
There will be those who will say it was somehow “justified.”
There will be those who will say this was the result of protests.
Then there is the reality – that this was one misguided, mentally deranged individual suffering from that very same blindness.
But how how will we react?
Nothing will change until everyone can work together rationally, and empathize with each other’s experience. Only then will the important issues be able to be addressed.
Reign-in the unfocused agitators, the distractors, those who do not promote dialogue and positive progressive action.
It takes critical thought and emotional strength to rise higher than our primitive reactions – on either end of the extremes of an issue – that take over our brain so easily to drive us further apart.
It takes compassion to see issues from another person’s perspective.
This is humanity. Understand. Think. Heal. Solve. Move forward together.
But how will this nation react? And how will our media, on either end of the political spectrum, present and fuel this conversation?
Will this divide us even more, as always, or will we all finally say enough, and realize the humanity in each and every one of us?
That depends on the type of people we are. Who are we, America?
Are we human?
