Injustice.

By no means am I an expert in talking about this. I have tons of privilege, and I’m aware that I am luckier than most people and don’t have to experience as much as others do. I know that there are people that have much less than I do, and they experience racism on a much more frequent basis. Probably even more than I experience in my entire life.
With that being said, I want to admit that I have not spoken up as much about the issue because I feel I am ignorant and would not represent the topic well enough to have a debate with anybody that disagrees with my point of view.
What I’ve seen on the news lately infuriates me. My stomach hurts. I don’t know why there is so much pain that gets caused. I can’t even log in to social media anymore without seeing hundreds of posts around the injustices being done in our so-called, “great country.” People are more upset about the looting being done inside of million-dollar companies. Companies that more than likely have insurance that can help with these type of situations. I can’t say that I would be brave enough to go in and loot, but I can understand. The people are tired of seeing cases in which we don’t receive the justice we deserve. Human beings are being killed over what? A bad check? It’s not right. So I want to try and put into words at least three points that I’ve seen lately. First, I’ll try to summarize what I think I’ve done wrong in regard to these injustices. Second, my perspective on what I see on social media. Lastly, my overall thoughts on how I would see this ending.

What’s Going On?
Just to reiterate, I am no expert by no means, but I don’t think I need to be to speak about this situation based on what I was able to see as far as evidence. A police officer murdered another black man. The police officer was seen with his knee on the neck of George Floyd. George can be heard saying that he was hurting. I don’t need to be an expert to think that this is wrong. This police officer not only should’ve been fired immediately, but he should be charged with murder along with the three officers that were a part of the arrest. If any other group of four were to watch their peer murder another one, they’d also be charged with a crime. These officers should not be above the law. There has been plenty of evidence to charge them with a crime, but it hasn’t happened, and we the people are frankly sick of it. We can’t tolerate it any longer. This is not a knock on police officers at all, but at some point, you have to start hearing more police officers speak up. The police officer who killed George Floyd had over ten complaints about him. How did nobody else on the force speak up about this guy? These are the sort of questions that need to be asked.

The Reaction on Social Media
I have a callous time going on social media and trying to understand why people are the way that they are. First of all, everyone is so brave on social media and feels they can speak up about anything without getting punched in the mouth. Secondly, I’ve realized that I have a lot of friends that are more disgusted by the looting and rioting going on in Minneapolis than they are the murder of George Floyd. Why is that? People tend to care more about the worldly value of something than they do about a fellow human being. People are quick to bring up that there could be people hurt during the looting and the riots, but they never once mentioned the fact that this police officer chose to keep his knee on this man’s neck even after he became non-responsive? Lastly, people are quick to judge those breaking the law by looting these millionaire companies like Target, and some also feel enraged by seeing the videos, calling the looters thugs. Where was that outrage and the name-calling for the officer? I understand that everyone believes that two wrongs do not make a right, but ultimately we have to realize that we have to be a force to be heard. Nothing has been done just by doing peaceful protests. We have protested for years and have marched since Dr. Martin Luther King. Where has that gotten us now?

My Final Thoughts
Again, I want to restate that I am by no means an expert, nor do I feel like I am a victim of any sort of situation, but I cannot stand idly by while people are dying. I will be louder. I will continue to support the minority community as much as possible. I have to spend where I feel I can contribute. If corporations do not want to speak up and stay idle when injustices are happening in their hometowns, I am committing a crime by continuing to provide for them. I’m not exactly sure what this looks like going forward, but I will make an effort. I think the best thing I can do is be loud and call people out for the inconsistencies I’m seeing. The people are sick of seeing what they’re seeing. No justice, no peace.