From: Angel Thomas
Columbus
I can’t even begin this letter by stating my outrage is due to the dark color of my skin because as a human being you should want justice for all. The continuous disregard of the black man in America is sickening. And what is even more disheartening are the Americans who excuse the behavior of police officers who have failed to hold up their promise to the community and people they swore to protect and serve.
Let me be clear, this is not an “all police officers are pigs” letter. I respect cops 100 percent and am so grateful for their hard work. They get up every day knowing this could be their last day and they do it to protect you and me. One bad apple does not spoil a bunch.
Black men have been target practice for many years for many trigger-happy, authoritative, heartless men and women in uniform. The recent events in Louisiana and Minnesota have caused division and confusion and for the wrong reasons. We should be united in anger when all men are not treated equally and never find excuses to justify wrongdoing.
Black Lives Matter. That statement is not excluding anyone else or saying black lives are more important. It is simply saying in America black lives are undervalued, and it is imperative that we open our eyes and recognize the inequality. The best analogy I have heard to better understand the ignorance of exclaiming “All Lives Matter” as an angry response to Black Lives Matter is this: Bob is sitting at the dinner table. Everyone else gets a plate of food except Bob. Bob says, “Bob deserves food.” Everyone at the table responds with “Everyone deserves food” and continues eating. Although “everyone deserves food” is a true statement, it does nothing to actually rectify the fact that Bob has no food.
Black people aren’t disposable. Yes, we have issues within our communities, our own cultural crisis, but we are heroes, too. We want to go home to our families, too. We deserve justice, too. Black lives do matter, and America needs to fix that.
