The amount of hate in this country is overwhelming. It's scary and it's dangerous. People watch the news and automatically place guilt before knowing the facts. It's an uneducated decision to do so. Social media and biased news outlets have put lives at risk.
Yesterday I woke up to another white police on black shooting. Second day in a row. I thought shit. Here we go. Guilty or not I don't know. I wasn't there. I can't shout out support to the police officer nor can I support the man who got shot. I simply wasn't there. All I could do was pray that this country would sit quietly and let justice prevail. Let the details come out and guilty or not, we have a system in place that will handle the situation.
Last night I went to bed watching CNN. The tune quickly changed from police officers being unqualified, uneducated and dangerous personnel...to shots fired in Dallas. A couple officers down. Celebrities went from hashtagging blacklivesmatter to- oh wait! Blue lives matter too! It went from hate the police to pray for the police.
The news made me nauseous. I went to sleep praying that it would only be two cops and hopefully not with life threatening injuries. But then I woke up this morning to...
11 OFFICERS SHOT. 5 DEAD.
My God...
Are those 11 lives now enough to support the police?
Listen, there are bad eggs in every profession and in all communities. You have teachers raping students, priests touching children, parents killing their own children, gang members shooting 4 year olds, corrupt bankers destroying people financially, lying/cheating government officials. In every profession there's going to be an unqualified asshole who leaves a bad name for the job. Cops aren't perfect either. But most do their best. And we need them!
If you've been sitting there judging police officers these past few days then I challenge you to make a career change. If you can do it better then please do. If you have the courage and strength to put youf life on the line for the low, low price- then please, take on my challenge.
My husband is a police officer. Trust me when I say that I wish he wasn't. But he is a good guy. He puts his uniform on every single day without a single complaint. He chooses to walk out of our home to protect and save lives when there is zero respect for police officers.When he and his coworkers go to calls they are greeted with cell phones in the air videotaping every move they make. Waiting and wishing for someone to screw up. I go to bed every night and pray for the safety of every police officer and armed force. I pray because they need every prayer they can get.
I don't want my husband to put his life on the line to protect people who don't have an appreciation for life. I don't fine those people to be worth the sacrifice my husband or any other officer makes. Way back when, if you were a police officer you were a hero. Today, if you're a police officer you're a target. And that is shameful. We have government officials in this country who have gone public in saying they don't support law enforcement. We have celebrities who bash law enforcement with a "simple tweet" to the millions who follow. The same celebrities who use law enforcement for their own personal security.
We need police officers. Do we understand that these men and women who CHOOSE to be a police officer made that CHOICE? Do we understand that these men and women CHOOSE to save lives? Do we understand that these men and women CHOOSE to put their lives at risk? Do we understand that these men and women CHOOSE to miss holidays and celebrations with their families. This is a CHOICE. We cannot force men and women to become police officers. We cannot force people to choose this profession.
Every time a law enforcement official is caught in the spotlight there is an uproar. It's nasty and often gets out of control. Every news outlet covers the ruckus for days which creates even more animosity and unnecessary chaos. Oh, did you hear about the 4 year old boy who was shot while playing outside in Chicago? A couple months ago another toddler was shot in the head while riding in the back seat of her aunts car. Oh, just last week a Mom killed her 4 kids- stabbed them to death. Oh did you hear about that father that killed his kid who had a disability? How about the number of parents who accidentally "forget" their kid in a hot car- those incidences seem to be rising year after year. Where are those protests? Why aren't we protesting the safety of our children? Why aren't we demanding to get guns off the street?
Protests never go silent. People often shout "F the police"- "Police are pigs". You see people spitting in officers faces- throwing bottles and bricks at them, giving them the finger and yelling every profanity you can imagine. Businesses have been burned down and cars and homes have been vandalized."Peaceful protests" have become an internal war zone. Who are these people? They can't be human. They are filled with so much hate and disgust. Where are there parents? How were they raised? They are a piss poor example of being an American citizen.
The black lives matter hash tag angers me. We're all Americans. We all should want the same things. All lives matter. Black, white, gay, straight, male, female. What year is this!?!? Why have we taken hundreds of steps back? Why is it that the only time this country comes together is when there is an attack against our country. We all drive down the same roads, eat at the same restaurants, shop at the same stores. Every single person in this country has the same exact right as their next door neighbor. If you don't agree then you have the freedom to find a new home.
11 OFFICERS SHOT. 5 DEAD. I shake my head with disgust. Those 11 are real people. They have families just like you and I.
There are shootings every single day. White on white. Black on black. White on black. Man on Man. Female on Female. Husband on wife. Mom on children. Every which way. Its overwhelming. And I'm tired of it.
How do I explain the ugliness to my daughter? When her bubble bursts and she grows up knowing there is so much evil in this world, how do I explain that?
Our biggest problem use to be finding a cure for cancer. Now we think twice before entering a movie theater, going to a club, enjoying a meal at a restaurant, dropping our kids off at school or going to church. Last year we attended my daughters preschool orientation. I was uneasy with the whole idea of school. Crazy, right? At the end of the orientation they asked if any of the parents had any questions. My husband raised his hand and when called on he asked if the windows and doors in the school are bulletproof. You could hear a few gasps and eyes widened with such curiosity as to why he asked the question. As silence began to build we sat and waited for the answer. "I don't know." My husband explained that he assumed they would be since it was a newer school and since today's reality should require all schools to have some sort of protection. Besides, tornado drills have now been replaced with active shooter drills- even in preschool.
Our problems just aren't with race, religion, profession. We have a list of messed up problems. I don't know what the answer is. I wouldn't know where to begin. But I do know that we are moving quickly in a downward spiral and I am scared.
It use to be America the Beautiful. Its unfortunate, but America has slowly been losing the beauty that so many other countries strive for.
My heart is broken by all of the hate. I pray for better. You should too.
