In the name of Michael Brown, in the name of Eric Garner and in the name of racial equality, protesters the world over have taken to the streets. In New York, protesters cornered the busiest island in the country, shutting down highways in Manhattan from east to west and bridges from north to south, and along the way, they also shut down Lincoln Tunnel, named for the man who ended the Civil War and slavery in our country. That symbolism may not seem like much, and it may have been lost on most of the protesters, but when you have the attention of the whole world, every little thing matters. In fact, even when no one seems to be paying attention, everything matters. Or else nothing matters.
That is one of the most unfortunate sentiments to come out of all this. There is a whole swath of people who feel less than because they are, sometimes literally, put under the foot of the police for no reason other than being of a certain color. And to exacerbate the matter, they then see that behavior ignored. No one should feel like they don’t matter. It’s a serious issue. The problem now is, the black and minority communities have chosen to use the case in Ferguson as their rallying cry. A case where the black man was in the wrong and brought the unfortunate run-in with the police on himself. Did he bring the fateful gunshots on himself? That will likely be an issue disputed to the ends of time, but there is no question that he robbed a store and invited the police to come for him, making the encounter justified. And when that is the poster case for the movement, it makes it easier to, from afar, disregard the very real and earned cries as unfounded.
On the other side, the black and minority communities claim there is a systemic problem within the police force. But if that were true, how could any self-respecting black person or minority join the force? And they do. As of 2010, more than half of the NYPD was made up of minorities. The truth is, police officers are under a lot of stress, especially in minority communities. Why is there more crime in minority communities? An important question. One that matters in the larger scale of things, but does not pertain to this conversation. It is not for the police to ponder why it is, but to handle the situation as it is. Our police aren’t there to consider socio-economic issues but to simply protect and serve. And having to protect a neighborhood when in the back of your mind is the thought that the neighborhood whose protection has been entrusted to you can also be the source of your demise can not only make one jumpy in the name of self-preservation, it could also embitter a person. Having to say goodbye to your loved ones every morning because of the very real possibility that it could be the last time you do could change a person. Does that give them the right to harass and harm innocent men, women and children? Absolutely not. In fact, all that does is take a little innocence from the world, darkening their streets a little more, only creating more shadows to jump at.
Ultimately, both sides are justifiably upset and in a way both at fault. Now the grievances have been aired, the lines have been drawn and the stage is set. So where do we go from here? We come together.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” President Lincoln said that, and it has never been questioned or doubted. Our house is divided. Now how do we close the gap? We learn to accept that there aren’t two sides in this struggle. When one side hurts the other, it only hurts us all. The relentless cycle of hate, violence and distrust pulls us all into a cyclone of pain. Once we force ourselves to see things from the other’s perspective, hopefully we can then understand each other and learn something. We can see that behind the shield there is a human being and the last thing they want is to encounter trouble. We can understand that beneath every color of skin there is just flesh and blood; when it’s kicked it bruises, when it’s pricked and shot it bleeds, and when its spirit is beaten down they sink into the darkness that breeds the enemy no one wants them to be. And the people on both sides that can hear that and absorb it are not the problem. The ones who do not are. And that’s the other half of this story.
The house is divided, and on both sides of the divide there is a seedy basement. There are bad men and women on both sides of this who don’t care about the rest of us, and this idea of “protecting our own” is tearing down our house from its foundation. That’s why it’s so important for those on the up-and-up to come together and root out these bottom-dwellers. The guilty among us who don’t care that their selfish acts bring undue suspicion on the innocent around them, and the ones who aren’t in danger of becoming embittered but start off that way and don’t care who they’re kicking as long as they can kick someone down with an expected power of impunity, and who turn badges into targets; that is where the problem lies. That is who we have to unite against. Not as a community or as a culture, not as a squad or a force, but as a race of human beings. We all need to be able to come together, police and the community they protect and serve, and shine a light on the ones who aren’t looking out for anyone other than themselves and rid ourselves of that stain so the best and finest of us can then come out into the light of a new day.
But I’m getting ahead of us. That’s the long road. First, we just need to take a first step. For now, instead of just walking or marching by each other with veiled or open disdain, how about we do something positive. We can start small. Shake a hand. Make a connection. Instead of shutting a bridge down, build one. A handshake might not seem like much, like it can’t accomplish much, but it matters. Everything does.
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