With everything
going on in Baltimore recently I can’t help but have riots and race relations
on my mind. I understand the anger. Police killing another innocent black man
that was wrongfully arrested, it sounds like a similar story from 1992 with
Rodney King. Or even as far back as the 1960’s. Police brutality,
discrimination, and equal rights have been on the table for quiet some time,
but equality is still a struggle for many people everyday. The people rioting
are tired of knocking at the door asking for equality, and are now breaking it
down. Some of them are angry. Some are taking advantage of the situation.
Dousing people in gasoline? Destroying your own neighborhoods? I don’t see how
this helps anything. I think it’s wrong. Not condoning riots, but maybe
destroying government buildings and courthouses similar to the White Night riots
for the death of Harvey Milk? Maybe even that would make more sense. But
destroying where you live? I don’t get it. The peaceful protests going on in
Baltimore need more coverage. And thankfully the police officers in the case
against Freddy Gray have had criminal charges filed against them. But this is
all a metaphor a bigger picture. A metaphor for the social injustices many
minorities still face today. Hopefully news like this will spark conversations
between people about race and racism. Hopefully this can turn into a
conversation about how we should be treating people, and not about how we treat
certain races of people.
1 comment:
What really stuck out to me from Jacob’s post was that “peaceful protests…need more coverage”. It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that news is not a public service and is nothing more than a ratings grab. I think this country could benefit immensely from shifting coverage to talking about the issue at hand while showing peaceful protests rather than focusing on the burning destruction.
I also agree that this is a cry for progress. Not all cities are as wonderful and accepting as Austin. I know there is still vast bigotry across the country. Equal rights and social justice is a fight we should all get behind. I believe it was Martin Luther King Jr. that said “rioting is the language of the unheard”. While I believe that to be true, I just think that the riots happening today really take away from the conversation that should be happening, no thanks to modern media.
I would like to stick up for law enforcement though. Just like any profession, there’s going to be some bad apples and those should be dealt with accordingly. I don’t think it’s fair to group all police into a category of brutality and discrimination.
I truly believe that the majority of police officers do great work. I think they risk their life every day to do their job and to protect and help citizens. And I think their job is getting harder because of the negative attention they are getting from the media. I think the idea of body cameras on officers is a great idea, as it can protect both citizens and officers.
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