Racism is dumb. - Science
The physical attributes we assign to race is controlled by approximately 0.01% of our DNA. 0.01%, That’s it. This means that a human of a different race than yourself is scientifically more similar to you than they are different.
I was raised in a home where race was never an issue. It just didn’t come up. It wasn’t important. It wasn’t until the school system started to get into history that I was really introduced to the ideas of racism and the horrible things that have been done in times past. In U.S. history, the two most unfortunate groups of people would be the Native Americans and African Americans, hands down. Followed perhaps by the Japanese Americans. We all understand this, and we all continue to pay for it in today’s culture as we try to move towards a better tomorrow.
It’s difficult for me even today to see the world in color codes. White, black, yellow, red. It’s just not my first consideration. I am personally a mutt and have a varied background from Chinese to German and due to my light skin color I am often labeled white. My friends look at me quizzically when I use the name of Eddie Murphy to remember Bill Murray.
So when I see the media and people I know get upset over black on white or white on black crime in todays world, it’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that skin color is the most important factor. If you watch the media it obviously must be the most important factor as there isn’t a headline that doesn’t list the race of those involved. I’m a police dispatcher and I’m much more upset over the human on human crime that takes place every day in my city. The domestics, the gang shootings, the robberies, the death of innocent children who happen to be in the cross fire of adults. As a dispatcher I know there are some bad cops but I also know that most of them are decent people. Look up what the thin blue line stands for if you don’t believe me.
I know racism is still alive and well in todays world, don’t misunderstand me. It’s just not the only thing that should be taken into consideration when a officer kills someone in the line of duty. I wasn’t there for either of the two cases in the news recently so I obviously will never know all the facts. I know that both the men that died were resisting arrest after committing a crime. I really do not understand why someone would resist an arrest for such a minor crime and make it so much worse. I know that two families will never get to be with a loved one again, which hurts. I’ve lost a brother due to a car accident two years ago and can at least sympathize with the pain if not the anger. Two officers have to live with the fact that they took a life while on duty. I do not believe any of the men involved on either side in both cases are monsters. They were all human.
That being said, how would you change the laws to make it better if you don’t believe justice was served? What is your actual solution to such tragedies? Would you have the officers that protect you and risk their lives every day also risk imprisonment every time they were in an altercation with a human criminal? Do you think these officers really started their shift that day hoping they would get to kill someone? That’s a pretty harsh condemnation if you do, particularly since most of us don’t know either officer personally. (I think most officers just want to make it home to their families everyday.) Neither of these cases would have made national news if the officer and victim/offender were of the same race. Should only cops that are the same race of the suspect be allowed to pursue and fight with them? Call me ignorant or naive if you must, cause to be honest I just don’t understand hate based on race. If race was the motivating factor behind these officers killing these men then absolutely be outraged. I’m just not so sure that was the case.
For my fellow 9gagers out there. Potato.
For my fellow 9gagers out there. Potato.