On Thursday, five police officers were killed by snipers during a protest rally in Dallas, Texas. The shootings were another horrifying addition to one of the toughest weeks in America in recent memory. Coming on the heels of the back-to-back killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, the deaths of the five officers have been perceived by many as the spark of even more racial divide.
The New York Post front page for Friday features a photo of the slain cops with a headline that reads, in large, bold letters: CIVIL WAR. The words might as well be “RACE WAR.” It’s a dangerous implication, one that feeds into the idea that the state of race relations in America will only be rectified by violence, and nothing else.
Five cops were killed on Thursday night at a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, Texas by snipers who targeted officers in an “ambush-style” attack. Seven other cops were shot as were two civilians, according to the Associated Press. One suspect died in a standoff with police, and three other suspects are in police custody.
Like clockwork, some people immediately and unfairly laid blame on the Black Lives Matter movement, suggesting that the organization is in some way responsible for the cop killings. That is not only dangerously misguided but also entirely untrue.
Let’s be clear: Black Lives Matter is an organization that spreads love, not hate ― and it condemns violence altogether. We should focus our energy on remembering those who have lost their lives to gun violence, both this week and every other. We must destroy vicious ideology that claims the Dallas shooting promotes a “race war” in any way. We must stand together in solidarity, even (and especially) as we mourn, to help spread unity and bring about peace.
One mistake could possibly result in there being a direct threat on Mark Hughes’ life.
Hughes is a black protestor who was wrongly labeled as one of the snipers from Thursday night’s attack on a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest that left five cops dead in Dallas, Texas, after a picture of him with a gun at the demonstration went viral.
Hughes was taken into questioning and later cleared with no charges pressed against him. But he is now a target to those who seek to penalize him for heinous crimes he did not commit. His image has been retweeted over 40,000 times and was shown on national live news broadcasts to people everywhere.
That’s a frightening reality for a man who decided to speak out against the unjust deaths of black men by showing up to a peaceful protest.
The double standard in the way America reacts to the death of black civilians and the death of cops have never been so evident than in the past 48 hours.
Let’s be clear: The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile are just as tragic and unwarranted as the assassinations of the five officers in Dallas on Thursday night. However, not everyone views them this way.
From the killings of the two black men to Second Amendment rights being seemingly null and void for black people ― as seen with Castile and misidentified Dallas shooting suspect Mark Hughes ― some social media users expressed their disdain with the selective activism and the hypocritical nature of those who recognized blue lives while disregarding black lives.
Follow HuffPost on Facebook and Twitter
©2016 The Huffington Post | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from the Huffington Post
Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe
No comments:
Post a Comment